The Truth About Waiting
by RunawayTelephones
Summary: Fourteen years, Amy Pond waited for her Raggedy Doctor to return. Those same years, Rory waited for Amy to accept him as more than a friend. What has waiting done to them? 11/Amy
1. All of Time and Space

"Look around you," the Doctor said, pointing her in all directions, showing her all of time and space through the door of his time machine. "This is all laid out before me- before us- to explore, to know, to learn. But it's not all about what we can gain from it. We have to save it. Oh, so many times we have to save it. This is what I'm bound to do, simply because of the fact that I couldn't save so many before. Now I have to save each planet that I can." Amy looked into the Doctor's eyes. She saw that they had narrowed and gained a depth to them that made it look as though he was so very old, which she now knew he was.

"So, now that you know, what will you do?" the Doctor posed his question. "Will you come with me?" Amy focused on those chocolate brown eyes, eyes that had seen so much; they'd seen pain and suffering, but they'd also seen restoration and great happiness. How could she say no to this man asking her if she wanted to see just a fraction of what he'd seen?

"Oh, Doctor," Amy began with a sigh. The Doctor looked down to his feet. He knew what was coming, she would deny his request, she would go back home to her normal life. "How could I say no? I've waited 14 years for this, for my Raggedy Doctor to come back and take me away. Now, here I am, on your space ship!" she finished with a laugh in her tone. The Doctor looked up at her, cherishing this moment, the moment she agreed, even after he'd told her that it wasn't all fun and games.

"Amelia Pond. Mad, impossible Amelia Pond," the Doctor whispered. He closed the distance between them and hugged her tight. He wouldn't let her get hurt, no matter what the cost. Amy put her head on his shoulder, relaxing into him and trusting him. Her trust was all he needed at that moment in time. He let her go, but kept his arms on her shoulders, now at a distance.

"Well now, I suppose we should find out who in the universe needs our help," the Doctor grinned, a childish grin that Amy recognized from the first moment she'd seen him, when he'd talked about apples and cravings and not wandering off. He gave her a gentle shake before releasing her shoulders and going to the TARDIS console.

"Hey Doctor?" Amy asked. He turned to look at her, the remains of that grin still on his face. She noted how his face had not changed one bit. The only thing that had changed was his clothes. Yes, she'd seen that change happen. She felt herself beginning to blush at the memory, and she remembered that she'd been about to ask a question.

"What if we just kept on going, never coming back for tomorrow?" Amy asked her question. It was theoretical, hypothetical; she would come back for the next day. It was her wedding day! She just felt as though she would want the answer anyway. It was just a question out of curiosity… based on a fleeting thought that she'd had.

"Well, then, let's just take this one adventure at a time, shall we Pond?" the Doctor said, allowing his features to form the familiar smile. Amy nodded and returned the rather infectious smile with one of her own.

He saw her smile and knew that this had all worked out alright, somehow. He had told her five minutes and come back in twelve years. Then two more. But she had waited all that time, just so that she could come with him on adventures.

"The girl who waited," the Doctor muttered, not even realizing that he had spoken. It wasn't until Amy responded that he realized that fact at all.

"The funny thing about waiting, Doctor, is that makes what you get all the more worthwhile," Amy said. The Doctor made a point to look away then, noticing that his eyes had not left her for the past several minutes, and that she might assume he was staring. Which he wasn't… not really.

"It sure will be!" the Doctor agreed, hiding his awkwardness with enthusiasm and spinning the TARDIS off to another point in space and time. He wasn't even paying much attention to the final destination. He was distracted by other thoughts, other sights.

"Anything can become an adventure, especially when I'm involved," the Doctor said, laughing as his machine took him and his new important companion off to see the universe in ways Amy could never have imagined before that night as seven-year-old little Amelia Pond.

"Doctor?" Amy caught his attention. They'd gone and saved the star whale, so now he was maneuvering his buttons, levers, and gadgets again. She watched him turn around, taking in his every motion, his every detail. She knew she could spend forever with him and still never quite understand him, yet all the same she knew she'd like to try.

"Yes?" the Doctor replied. He looked her up and down. It was impossible to think that just a day (or two days perhaps?) ago, she had been a seven year old girl. Now she was very much so not. She was older, and her body reflected that. The fact that she was wearing her night clothes didn't help, or the fact that he knew she was a kissogram. He supposed that must mean that she was a good kisser…

"Doctor, have you heard what I've been saying?" Amy asked, looking at him with her head tilted slightly to the side. Her tone should have held some annoyance, but instead she almost sounded amused.

"Yes," he said, meeting her gaze. Then, upon realizing that she must be waiting for his response to whatever she'd said, he decided to change his answer. "No," he admitted. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.

"I asked if we were going somewhere else sometime soon," she reiterated. The Doctor began thinking about the answer to her question, but his mind became distracted again.

"We need to get you some proper clothes," he said. He couldn't very well leave her without normal clothes. Amy's question had not been answered, but she didn't complain. After all, she had been in her nightgown for ages.

"Okay, but where would I get clothes?" Amy asked. The Doctor smiled; she would like this part. The TARDIS had a wonderful closet, and most of his female companions had been thrilled when they'd first seen it. Actually, he remembered that one had proposed marriage to him right on the spot, but that story was for another day.

"You'll love this," he said cheerfully. He grabbed her hand and showed her through a few hallways and rooms in the TARDIS, leading all the way to the closet. When Amy saw it, she gasped in amazement. It had to be as big as the entire first floor of her house, and it was filled with clothes of all kinds.

"Well I'll, um, leave you to it then," the Doctor said, awkwardly leaving the room so that Amy could get changed. The Doctor leaned against the wall, knowing that girls had a tendency to take a long time to pick out what to wear. He found himself having to wait another twenty minutes before Amy finally walked out of the closet in a long-sleeved red shirt and leggings that fit snuggly on her legs. On her feet she had black converse shoes, and her hair fell in spirals across her shoulders. The Doctor had to mentally shake himself of the thought that this was, again, _definitely_ not a seven year old girl.

"Right! Well, now that you're properly dressed…" he started, leading the way back to the console. Amy grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Aren't you going to tell me how I look first?" Amy asked with a pout. The Doctor gave her another head to toe scan, knowing that there were many things that he would like to say. She watched him assessing her, wondering what he was thinking.

"It'll do," the Doctor said, though he wanted to pick other words. But he couldn't. Amy's face fell ever so slightly, but the Doctor had already turned away, so he couldn't see the change in her expression. She had been hoping he would at least give her a small compliment; she was a girl after all.

"We've got all of time and space, once more, and now you've got some clothes on!" the Doctor said with enthusiasm. Amy smirked.

"Are you saying it wouldn't be as fun without clothes?" she asked. The Doctor raised one eyebrow before turning heel and continuing his way back to the console room. "What an alien," she muttered under her breath. The Doctor had gone pink around the ears, but he was in the console room in seconds, Amy trailing behind, so she didn't see.

"So, back to my first question, are we going anywhere?" Amy asked after she'd caught up with the Doctor. He whirled around, looking as though she'd interrupted something.

"Yes, I mean, no. Well, not yet anyhow," he stammered. He cleared his throat and did the same with his mind. Sometimes companions could make flying the TARDIS difficult, in different ways of course.

"Why not?" she inquired, curious as always.

"Because, believe it or not, I don't spend absolutely _all_ of my time out traveling," the Doctor answered. In reality, he just wasn't ready for another breath-taking adventure when he was already out of breath from the simplest of things recently. But how could he explain that to Amy? She would probably take it the wrong way, that she was a distraction. Or she would take it as flirting, which the Doctor was definitely not very good at. Was he? No, he had not tried all that often, so he couldn't have been.

"So what do you do when you're not traveling then?" Amy asked. This girl, she asked so many questions. Then again, they always seemed to. Amy was curious, in both meanings of the word. She was curious in the way of sticking her nose into everything. She would always wander off, for instance, and she would always find her way into conversations about his personal life. And then Amy was also curious in the unusual way. She was quite different than most humans. She'd accepted him, cravings, random appearances, fish finger eating and all as a little girl. She'd run away with him as well, barely asking a question at that time. She'd left behind her aunt, her job, and her boyfriend to go on adventures throughout space and time.

"What do I do? Well I…" the Doctor trailed off, not certain of how to answer her question. "Well, I have to do something. I'm in a machine this big, I'm bound to have some hobbies," he mused, more so to himself than to Amy. Amy just laughed at him.

"So without your adventure, you're left with nothing?" she asked. That stung him a little, but he didn't let it show. In fact, he made it that way on purpose. If he let himself get too attached to anything else, he could experience a whole world of hurt, like he had with Rose. But Amy didn't know about Rose, so she couldn't know how her words would sting him.

"Yes, I'm a boring old man. I am 907, remember?" he joked. Amy winked at him.

"You don't look bad for 907," she teased him. He knew that it was all innocent teasing, but he couldn't help his heartbeat increasing slightly. Stupid body, never obeying what his mind might command from it. Maybe an adventure would be best after all.


	2. Returning Love

That particular adventure was not the best of his ideas. What, with the reappearance of the ever-mysterious River Song and Weeping Angels to boot, it made for a complicated day. And then, he had taken Amy back home for a little while.

There, she had first told him that she was getting married in the morning, to Rory, not even the good-looking one! Then, just as he was trying to maintain calm and get rid of the ridiculous slightly envious feelings he was having, (he liked to think of those feelings simply as "protective") she started coming on to him. His mind had just about fried. He had jumped up in shock, soon realizing that she wasn't asking for a relationship, only a little entertainment. It hurt both to realize that and to have to pull away from her when it was so tempting to stay and enjoy. Then, when they'd gotten back into the TARDIS, Amy had gotten into his visual records and seen pictures of his past companions. Now that he was back in the TARDIS, he found himself in an awkward sort of a phase, each of them pretending to ignore what had just happened back in Amy's room.

"So Doctor, there were a lot of pictures of that blonde girl," Amy commented. The Doctor knew immediately who she was referring to, but he did not reply. "Who's she?" Amy asked.

"Her name's Rose. She was my companion in my last regeneration, my tenth. She and I went through a lot together, and she changed my life. But I had to leave her in an alternate universe, one I can never return to unless I want to rip both universes to shreds," the Doctor explained bitterly. It wasn't comfortable for him to talk about Rose. It made him remember the heartache it had brought him to leave her and go on in his life. It made him remember how similar she was in some ways to Amy- curious, young, passionate, and promising to travel with him.

"Did you love her?" Amy asked in a way that wasn't really asking. She'd picked it up from his facial expression. She had never seen the Doctor look like that- so worn down. She'd seen him look guilty and aged, but never looking quite so heartbroken. She felt a pang of sorrow for him.

"That answer… well, I never got to tell her so. I left her with a half-human half-Time Lord duplicate of myself, and it appeared she loved him," the Doctor responded. "So it's all good then!" he added on with a grin. Amy was not convinced.

"But you love her. That makes it not all good," Amy said in disagreement. At this, the Doctor came closer to her, so close that she could almost feel his body heat.

"Loved. Loved, Amy. That's all done now," he said. He was about to leave it there, but then he decided that Amy deserved a better explanation. "The reason it pains me to talk about her is because I remember how heartbroken I was. It reminds me that I lost something important to me. It reminds me that, no matter how hard I try, I can't keep everything perfect," he added to his explanation.

Amy couldn't help but look at him; he was only a few inches away from her after all. She believed every word he was saying, how could she not? But there seemed to be something else behind his words. He made a big point of saying that he was no longer in love with Rose, but why? She saw his eyes desperately searching hers for understanding, and she tried to convey that she did back through her own eyes. Apparently satisfied, the Doctor pulled Amy's head forward and, for a moment Amy's heartbeat sped up, but he just placed a quick kiss on her forehead and went back to the TARDIS console, where he always went and always would go.

"We should go back. We should get Rory," he said softly. Perhaps if he could see the two together, he could better remind himself that Amy was not for his eyes. He put in the coordinates for the night before Amy's wedding but paused for a moment. Something about the look in Amy's eyes when he said that made him worry.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked quietly. Amy wondered if he understood the look in her eye. She didn't know why the Doctor was suggesting that they return to get Rory, but it probably had something to do with the fact that she had kissed him earlier. She knew that she should regret that kiss, and part of her did, for what it seemed to be doing to her friendship with her oldest friend, but another part of her would never take back that moment. And it was that part of her that frightened her.

"Well, do we have to go back?" Amy questioned the Doctor, her voice shaking slightly. This was not how she'd envisioned things going. She'd ran away with the Doctor on the night before her wedding, thinking that they'd only be gone for a while before she would go back to marry Rory. She'd been running from a settled down life. But now she knew that the fairy tale part of the adventure was coming to a close. She'd have to return home, to reality, and face Rory, who would probably be upset. So, naturally, she felt herself wanting to stay just a little longer. That was the only reason she didn't want Rory to come back, right?

The Doctor watched clouds of turmoil thunder in Amy's eyes. He knew that she must be thinking about something important, something to do with Rory. He tried to read her, like he did with most people, but Amy was different. She wasn't an open book for him. That was part of the reason why he'd found her to be so intriguing and invited her to come and travel with him. No matter what exactly she was thinking about, it was troubling her in some way and making her question whether or not she should go home to get Rory. She needed Rory. This only made the need to get Rory feel all the more important.

"How else do you suggest we get Rory back for you?" the Doctor said playfully. He couldn't have her looking so grim- it wasn't right. So he smiled and sent the TARDIS spinning toward Leadworth.

**DW*DW*DW*DW**

Okay, so Rory was a little upset. That may have had something to do with how poorly the Doctor handled explaining what had happened. He had burst out of Rory's stripper cake (much to the disappointment of all at the party) and stated that Rory's fiancée had tried to kiss him. Realizing that this was not the best of news, the Doctor tried to put it in a more positive light, congratulating Rory on being engaged to such a good kisser. That tactic had not worked as well as planned.

The Doctor had then decided to send the two on a date-like adventure to Venice. That had gone wrong in many ways. Rory had questioned him about having kissed his fiancée and didn't seem all too pleased. Plus Amy was her usual flirting self, some of that being aimed at the Doctor. He did not respond to it, but it couldn't have made Rory any happier with the situation. Then of course there were vampires that weren't really vampires- they were actually fish aliens- and they're ruined things even further.

His plan for reintroducing Rory into Amy's life in hopes of making life easier for all three of them was not working exactly how he'd imagined. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. As of now, he was removing himself from the couple's conversation by fixing a slight problem with some thermocouplings and the nanocompressors.

"Wow, I still can't believe they weren't even vampires! They really seemed like they were," Rory said with some excitement. He had a bit of an adventurous soul in him, but that may have simply come from spending a lot of time with Amy.

"I know, but when they sucked my blood out and I kicked that woman, seeing what she really looked like, I knew they definitely were some kind of alien," Amy replied. The Doctor glanced over at the two of them, noticing the concern that came into Rory's eyes.

"I can't believe they did that to you. Are you sure you're okay?" Rory asked her with concern. The Doctor had wanted to hug her for a long time and take care of the marks with the sonic immediately after they'd found her, but he left the comforting mostly to Rory, knowing that it was his job.

"I'm fine, totally fine," Amy answered with a laugh. She skipped around the console room as if to prove her point. Rory smiled at his fiancée, clearly pleased with how happy she was. He had been worried at first that he had lost out to the Doctor concerning Amy's affections, but he accepted that she still loved him. He was a little disappointed that they weren't going right back so he could marry the woman he loved right away, but the adventures were keeping them well occupied and he really did enjoy them.

Amy stopped skipping when she came back around to Rory. She laughed once more and gave Rory a kiss. The Doctor looked away then. He didn't know why it pained him so much to watch them kiss, but he found himself looking away rather frequently. He thought of the fact that, just a little while ago, Amy was trying to kiss him instead. What had made her do that? Was it really just that she had been relieved to still be alive like he'd told Rory? And now it hadn't been mentioned since between him and Amy. It was as if it had never happened at all, except in the Doctor's mind where it seemed to crop up every once and a while. That kiss may have been nothing at all to Amy, she was a kissogram after all, but it had changed things for the Doctor. It had made him realize just how important it was to return Rory to her life and the fact that, for the first time since Rose, he'd found someone attractive, if only for a moment.

"Hey Doctor, Amy told me that when you first met her you said you had a swimming pool in here. Is that true?" Rory asked. The Doctor turned back around to face the pair.

"Of course it's true," the Doctor answered. Then, with a whim of curiosity, he asked, "What else did Amy tell you?" Amy shot Rory a "_don't_" look, but Rory didn't happen to catch her eye.

"Well, she told me about you eating fish fingers with custard and how funny you'd seemed. And, of course, that you were wearing raggedy clothes. She made me dress up as you a lot. She was obsessed with you!" Rory explained, laughing. The Doctor grinned, looking from Rory to Amy, who looked mortified.

"You made him dress up as me?" the Doctor asked, quite amused. Amy glared at Rory; he caught that one, unfortunately.

"I may have… a few times," Amy replied reluctantly. Rory appeared to think this was all great fun, like the Doctor did, despite Amy's glares and the fact that it was a topic that included Amy's previous obsession with the Doctor. The Doctor suddenly wondered at what age Amy had stopped being obsessed with him and turned angry. He was about to ask, but then he decided that would probably take things too far.

"A few? More like a lot," Rory corrected her. She pushed his shoulder and he laughed.

"Well, putting obsession aside, I need to fix up these," the Doctor ended their discussion, pointing to his various TARDIS parts.

Amy wondered how much longer she could do this. She was now living with her two boys- one who she was supposed to marry in the morning, whenever that came, and the other that she'd run away with. She'd known them for about the same amount of time, but she'd waited fourteen years for her Doctor. Then again, she supposed Rory had waited those same fourteen years for her to finally see the Rory could be something more than just a casual boyfriend for while she waited for her Raggedy Doctor to return. She couldn't deny it- the Doctor had been her first crush in a way. She'd only been seven years old, and there was this man who promised to take her to see the stars. How could she not like him?

But with a childhood crush, there are only two options. One- it dies out as you grow up. Or two- it carries on and blossoms. Amy worried that it had not completely died.

**A/N: I'll probably be putting up a lot of this at once, since I have a lot written already, but I would really appreciate any reviews with feedback so I know how to improve! Thanks for reading.**


	3. Choices

Amy's choice. That's what was in front of her. The Dream Lord had asked her which man she would choose, and she'd said she had chosen Rory, throughout anything and everything, even death.

Amy's choice. She'd chosen him even though she'd risked her life doing it. Rory was thrilled; in fact, he felt as though his whole life was fitting together. The only thing left to do was marry her like he'd been waiting to do for years.

Amy's choice. Amy had picked Rory over him, just as she was expected to do as his fiancée. But if that was true, then why did the Doctor feel so disappointed? It was as though he'd woken up from a wonderful dream right before it had started.

"We really need to go somewhere fun. Hey Doctor, we should go to Rio!" Amy offered. The three of them had just gone through a lot; that they had to admit.

"Sure, why not?" the Doctor agreed. How could he deny her when she asked him to take her somewhere? There was not much he wouldn't do to make her happy, he'd come to realize. And it was because of that that he didn't do anything that would put a wedge in her relationship with Rory. Rory would make her happy and stay with her for his entire life, something that the Doctor couldn't promise. His companions only stayed with him for adventures for so long.

Amy drags Rory to the TARDIS's closet to find clothes for Rio while the Doctor stays in the console room. It was funny how much time he spent in that room when he had so many other rooms on the ship. But, he knew that with all of time and space in front of him, a few extra rooms just didn't excite him anymore. But if it made his companions happy, that made him excited. Like right now, for instance. The closet made Amy extremely happy.

"I would do anything to keep you happy," the Doctor mumbled as he stroked a lever.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you two need some alone time?" Amy had just come back with Rory, both of them dressed for warm weather, and she had heard his comment. She thought he was talking about his TARDIS. If only she knew that the Doctor had actually been talking about her. But of course, it was definitely better that she didn't.

"No, of course not. I've had more than 900 years to have alone time," the Doctor joked. It was only fitting. If he didn't joke, he wouldn't seem to be himself. He didn't want anything to change. He wanted everything to work out just fine.

"I'll be right back, gotta go," Rory said, pointing in the direction of the bathroom. Once he'd left, Amy came closer to the Doctor. These times were the hardest- the times when he was alone with Amy.

"Doctor, can we talk?" Amy inquired, seeming to be thinking about something. He wondered intensely as to what it was, but he also knew that now was not exactly the time. Rory wouldn't be long, after all.

"Sure, but how about later? I'll be in the library," the Doctor said. He didn't know why, but he was nervous. Sure enough, Rory came back into the room. The Doctor left and headed to the library as he'd said. Soon he knew that Amy would come looking for him after Rory was occupied by something.

It had been a while since he's visited the library. Over the years he'd collected a lot of books about anything and everything. He'd originally started collecting them so that he could keep a record of history, but he'd eventually tired from biographies and history text books. After all, they were often wrong and he could see the real thing for himself whenever he wanted. Instead, he'd more recently begun collecting more fiction books like fair tales and adventure tales. He didn't know exactly what the outcome was going to be and he couldn't very well go though time to search for the real version since they were not based on reality. Written words that came from people's minds could be new to him, something that he cherished as a man who'd lived for centuries.

There were a few chairs, quite comfy chairs he might add, in addition to a swimming pool in the library. He smiled at the memory of how confused little Amelia Pond had been when he'd explained that there was indeed a swimming pool _in_ the library. The Doctor picked up a children's book and began reading it, working his way across the shelves to find ones he hadn't read in a while. After about an hour, Amy walked into the library.

"I still can't believe you actually have a swimming pool in here," she said with a smile. The Doctor returned it as Amy sat down in a chair next to him.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" the Doctor asked. As much as he would love to sit and talk about swimming pools, he was worried about what Amy had come to talk about. The smile slipped from Amy's face, only confirming the Doctor's worries.

"Well…" Amy tried to start. She didn't know exactly how to breach the topic. It was so hard, with all that she was feeling, and the fact that she wasn't even quite sure of what it all meant. "I've been feeling… conflicted," she settled for as an opening to their conversation. It was the best that she could think of.

"Conflicted?" the Doctor asked. He didn't know where this would go, but he had a feeling it could change a few things. Amy took a long breath before launching into what she was feeling.

"I feel happy that Rory's here and that I can still travel with you, but I also feel disappointed, almost as if he's intruding on a private part of my life. For so long you were just my imaginary friend, and no one believed you existed, not even Rory. Then you come back, just as I've agreed to go out with Rory, and I was angry because I'd been trying to convince myself that I could just move on even though I knew I never would. Then, when I thought I'd at least finally get what I'd been waiting for, you left for another two years. I knew you'd come back, but I didn't know for how long, so I agreed to marry Rory, thinking that I could just settle down. Then, surprise! You're back again, and on the night before my wedding. So I ran away with you. I was running toward adventure and away from settling down. I got used to traveling with you, love it, and then Rory joined back in. At first I thought it was the perfect compromise, but then it just started to feel wrong. Like I'm betraying both of you. And… and…" Amy rambled through her entire summary of what had been going on in her mind. It was all so disjointed and confusing that she felt tears threatening to overtake her eyes.

"Okay, take a breath, breathing is good," the Doctor leaned forward and hugged her for comfort. Amy's body heaved under his arms. He had known that this was going to be an important conversation, but this was turning out to be the center of the problem with what was going on in Amy's head. Amy held onto the Doctor's arms tightly as if letting go she would also let go of the only hold she had on herself.

"And I j-just don't know. I don't know if… if… if I should ever go back at all. To get m-married," Amy whispered, her mouth close to the Doctor's ear. The Doctor took a breath. Then another.

"Why wouldn't you?" he whispered back. He reminded himself again to breathe. It was so hard for him to hold back. He wanted to just tell her that she never had to go back to get married, that she could stay away from home forever. But he didn't.

"Doctor… when I was just a little girl… you were like an odd fairy tale hero. And I-" Amy started to say but stopped, choking her tears down. The Doctor let her go so that he could look at her properly. Just then Rory walked in.

"Amy! Amy, are you okay?" Rory ran to her side, noticing her tears immediately. The Doctor sighed inwardly. Rory would always be the one at Amy's side.

***DW*DW*DW*DW***

It was nighttime, or the equivalent of night, inside the TARDIS and it had been a few days since the Doctor and Amy's conversation in the library had happened. Rory and Amy were each in their bedrooms sleeping while the Doctor sat again in the library. He had been coming here just about every day since he'd talked with Amy for two reasons. One, he had gotten back into reading his wonderful fiction novels that could take him to places even he couldn't travel to. Two, he liked to visit the place where Amy had essentially bared all of her emotions to him with total trust.

"Doctor?" Amy's voice said. The Doctor jumped up, startled to hear her up at this time. She walked over and sat down on the floor this time next to the Doctor.

"What are you doing awake?" the Doctor asked. She shrugged.

"I could ask you the same question. I couldn't really sleep and I thought I might find you here," Amy responded. The Doctor noticed that her eyes had the beginnings of dark circles under them. She must not have been sleeping well recently.

"I don't need as much sleep as you do," he said for his part.

"Doctor, it's been bothering me for a few days now. I never got to finish what I was saying that day," Amy said. The Doctor swallowed nervously and Amy went on. "Well, what I was saying was that when I was little, you were like a fairy tale, like a hero, and I… well, I really did become obsessed with you, like Rory said. I couldn't think of anyone or anything else. I didn't really date any boys as a kid until Rory, and I was older then, because I kept thinking _you_ would come back," Amy continued, looking to the Doctor, hoping he understood, hoping that she wouldn't have to spell it out for him. The Doctor looked a little confused. He hadn't been expecting to hear about Amy's early love life. Amy sighed in slight annoyance.

"I kept hoping you'd come back for me. Like a prince in a fairy tale. My Raggedy Doctor," Amy elaborated. Understanding lit the Doctor's eyes at last. So Amy had a sort of crush on him as a young girl. He kicked himself mentally for not coming back sooner, before Rory had gotten to her and before she had grown out of her childhood crush.

"Um… well…" the Doctor tried to say something intelligent, but he simply had no idea how to handle this. Amy smiled slightly at the Doctor's awkwardness.

"But the part that confuses me is… did that childhood crush die? Or did it just… change?" Amy mused to the Doctor. The Doctor swore his hearts stopped beating for a moment. Was she really suggesting that her previous feelings for him might not be all gone? He wanted to jump at the opportunity, tell her that he would completely understand if she still had those feelings, but he held himself back like always. He couldn't say anything at all without betraying how he felt, so he waited. He waited for Amy to speak again since he couldn't trust his own words.

"Because, as much as I love Rory, and believe me, I do, I can't get rid of the idea that I… have some of that love for you too," Amy said. Immediately after saying it, she felt a rush of different emotions. She felt guilty, scared, confused, and relieved. Now the Doctor knew he couldn't avoid speaking. He couldn't believe his ears. Amy Pond had just admitted that she loved him in some way. He should tell her that Rory loved her, that he would soon take her back home to get married, but for once his easy cover for his emotions got caught in his throat.

"I…" the Doctor tried to speak, finding it to be enormously difficult. His hearts were beating loudly, so loudly that he wondered irrationally for a moment if Amy could hear them. "I… would be a liar if I… if I didn't say I loved you, Amy Pond," he managed to get out. No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen! He'd sworn to himself, never again, not after Rose. And his voice sounded all wrong, all stuttering and squeaky. That was no way to admit his love after all that time! Wait, he thought, he shouldn't be focusing on how he said it, more that he'd said it at all!

Amy thought she had gone mental. Or maybe it was a dream. Had the Doctor just told her he loved her? It couldn't be. All this time she'd thought she was in unrequited love with a man who could never feel the same way. She'd thought he would push her away- gently, he was kind at least- but push her away nonetheless. No, now he'd returned her words.

"But I can't give you… anything. Rory… Rory can give you marriage and a life together, forever," the Doctor said. There was his mind. Where had it gone in the last minute of his life? His throat felt like sandpaper as he said the words that he wished he didn't have to. Amy suddenly grabbed the Doctor's hand.

"But what if that's not what I want, Doctor? I ran away from marriage before, what if I'm still running?" Amy asked him desperately. The Doctor was at a loss. How could he say anything to that?

"If you are, then what am I? Just your alternative to a marriage you don't want?" the Doctor hissed. He didn't know where this anger had come from. Amy looked hurt, just as hurt as he felt. Why was he feeling like this? Why were all of his emotions like a kaleidoscope, all colliding together? One moment he felt distraught, then love, now anger?

"Is that what you think? That I'm just using you to get away from a settled down life I don't want with Rory? A _rebound_?" Amy spat back.

"Well? Can't you see how it looks?" the Doctor challenged. He wanted to take it all back, but, to his surprise, Amy sighed and let go of his hand.

"Yes, I do. But it's not what it looks like. Doctor… I love you. More than Rory. More than anyone," Amy confessed. The Doctor put his hand out, brushing the hair out of her face. Beautiful Amelia Pond, and here she was, telling him she loved him.

"Then why did you agree to get married?" the Doctor asked, this time without an accusatory tone. He said it softly, continuing to stroke her hair.

"Because I thought I'd never have a chance with you," Amy whispered. She looked guilty, but she said it steadily. The Doctor moved his hand to tilt up Amy's chin.

"You deserve a chance. I promised myself no one else did, but since when did I ever do anything I should? After Rose…" the Doctor took a deep breath. "After Rose, I thought it was over for me. I thought it would be best to avoid that kind of pain from ever entering my life again. But then a brilliant, beautiful, Scottish ginger came into my life and made that promise extremely difficult to keep. Your forever might not mean my forever, but… sometimes time doesn't actually matter," the Doctor said, trying to bare his soul as much as possible. Amy looked into his eyes and saw it, saw his tortured soul begging for a chance at love once more.

"But I had to go and leave you for too long, and now you have a fiancée. A good one too. It would be so much easier if he was not so… _good_," the Doctor said with sadness. How could he steal Amy away from Rory, the boy who'd taken such good care of her when the Doctor wasn't there?

"I'll have to tell him the truth, he deserves that. And… he knew ever since I was a little girl how I felt about you. Why do you think I made him dress up as you? I wished he could become you. And he tried. But he never could come close enough," Amy explained. "I do love him… but my first love is my strongest."

The Doctor thought he could explode and regenerate right there with the conflicting emotions in his hearts. He felt bad for Rory, that he was going to take away his fiancée, but he also felt his hearts bursting with love for this girl.

"You should go to sleep," the Doctor told her quietly, letting go of her chin. Amy looked confused. "Tomorrow will be a hard day for all of us," he explained. Amy understood what he meant- that they would have to tell Rory in the morning. She stood up with the Doctor.

"Good night, Amy Pond," the Doctor said. Amy stepped closer to him.

"Good night, Doctor," Amy reciprocated. They stood there, lingering for a moment, before Amy gently pressed her lips against the Doctor's for a moment, only a moment, and left to return to her bed. The Doctor stood in the library for the next several minutes, holding a finger to his lips in a memory.

**A/N: So, I hope I'm doing an alright job with everything, reviews would be lovely to let me know! Next time, Amy needs to talk to Rory…**


	4. Rory's Choice

Amy woke up. Her first thought was still mostly coming from her dreams- something about a swimming pool. Then, she came more to her senses and froze in her bed. Today she would have to face Rory about her feelings for the Doctor and him. Today would most likely not be the most fun of days. Amy picked up some clothes that she'd brought into her room the day before and put them on- a long-sleeved shirt with a short skirt and leggings. After dressing, she exited her room and went to the TARDIS console room where she noted that the Doctor already was. Coming from behind her was Rory.

"Good morning, you two," the Doctor said with perhaps only slightly less cheer than a normal day.

"Morning," Rory greeted. He seemed to be awake, more so than Amy felt. Then again, her lack of much sleep was made up for by the amount of adrenaline she was feeling in anticipation of the conversation she knew she had to start with Rory quite soon.

"I'm sorry," Amy blurted out. She hadn't meant to say it, but she found herself speaking anyway. The comment was directed at Rory, but the smile was wiped away from the Doctor's face anyway. Rory just looked confused.

"What are you sorry for, Amy?" Rory asked. Amy bit her lip, finding the words she'd thought of slipping away from her. How could she possibly explain what was going on inside her head and inside her heart? This was Rory, the boy who'd been her friend for as long as the Doctor had. Rory, who had never called her crazy even though many others had. Rory, who had been her best friend throughout everything. He didn't deserve what she was going to do to him, how she knew it would break him.

"Rory… you know I love you right?" Amy said tentatively. She silently cursed herself for starting that way. It just wasn't right to do that to him. Rory looked even more confused, but before he could answer her question, Amy began talking again. "You remember when we were kids, and I told you how I waited all night for the Doctor? And then I waited twelve years, and then two more?" Amy asked. Rory nodded.

"The truth about waiting is… it makes what you get either that much more enjoyable or that much more disappointing. And…" Amy knew she could do a much better job of this. Maybe she should have just left him at stag night, never having to return, letting the night before her wedding last her entire life.

Rory didn't know what was happening. In the last few days he'd noticed that his fiancée had been sleeping less by the dark circles under her eyes. He'd also noticed that she seemed to be stressed about something, but she wouldn't tell him what. It appears that now she was starting to tell him, but he couldn't understand what waiting had to do with anything.

"I know you waited for a lot of years to get me to love you. But what I'm saying is… that might only make it even more disappointing," Amy said, forcing herself to look him in the eye. She couldn't be a coward, not now.

"What are you talking about, Amy? Of course I won't be disappointed too marry you," Rory reassured her in bewilderment. How could she possibly think that Rory would be disappointed in her? Amy felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she bit them back.

"If we were to get married, you would hand your whole heart over to me. But I would only ever be able to hand you half of mine," Amy continued. She knew Rory didn't quite understand yet by the expression on his face. She had to press through this, had to get him to understand exactly what was going on.

The Doctor watched this pan out, careful to keep quiet. He didn't want to interfere in this conversation. Even though he knew he was about to become a big part of it, he really wasn't supposed to be involved. This was one thing Amy had to do without him, no matter how much he wanted to spit it all out and just drop Rory off someplace where he wouldn't be a problem anymore. He couldn't do that.

"When I was seven years old, I gave that half of my heart to a man who appeared in my backyard," Amy said with a shuddering breath. There it was. Rory's eyes darkened as the truth became apparent to him. There was no misunderstanding what Amy had just said. She had just confessed that she couldn't marry Rory because she was in love with the Doctor. Rory took a step toward the Doctor in anger, but then took three more back.

"Why? How?" Rory spat out the questioning words. The woman he'd chased after almost his whole life thus far had basically taken their wedding and shoved it back at him in favor of another man, one who had never even been there for her.

"I'm sorry Rory. I really am s-" Amy apologized as tears finally flowed from her eyes. Rory clenched his fists in anger, pure anger.

"You're sorry? Oh, you're sorry? That makes it all better then! I guess we can just keep on going as if nothing's happened, as if the woman I thought was my fiancée didn't just admit she loves another man!" Rory fumed. At this point the Doctor stood up. Nothing more, he simply stood. He wanted to thrash Rory's head against the wall for yelling at Amy like that, even though some part of his brain knew that this was exactly for Rory should be expected to react.

"Take me home," Rory whispered, his voice cutting through the silence. No one moved; no one breathed. "I said, take me _home_!" he said it quite a bit louder this time. The Doctor moved to set the coordinates for the night before the wedding, but Rory spoke again.

"Take me back before night time. I want to cancel stag night. And everything else, of course," this time his voice was dangerously calm, like the quiet before a storm. The Doctor obliged, and the TARDIS flew its quietest flight in a long time. When it had landed, Rory walked briskly to the door.

"Goodbye Rory… I'm sorry," Amy said, still crying heavily. Rory didn't even glance at her, but he whirled around to face the Doctor one last time.

"And you. You stole my fiancée away from me. Don't screw it up or I swear, I will hunt you down and show you how angry I really feel," Rory hissed through a clenched jaw. The Doctor nodded slowly, not thinking that it was the best time to speak. With a slam of the blue door, Rory was gone.

***DW*DW*DW*DW***

After Rory left and the TARDIS followed suit, Amy broke down sobbing. This wasn't exactly the Doctor's area of expertise, but he held her as she cried, gently stroking her hair. He hated to see her so sad, but he couldn't think of any way to fix it for her. There was nothing he could say or do to make Amy's life perfect. So instead, he stayed quiet except for the occasional whisper of "I love you" which he couldn't help saying now that he was finally free to.

Amy didn't want to be crying like this. Rory was gone, but that had been what she'd wanted, right? On the other hand, she really had loved Rory, just not as much as the Doctor. The Doctor was her first love, and they say you never stop loving your first love. She couldn't have bared to marry him when she still loved another man- it wouldn't have been fair. All the same, her emotions poured out of her in the form of tears as she wept over the loss of the man who had been her best friend for so many years. Finally, the sobs that wracked Amy's body started to subside and become uneven intakes of breath coupled with dried tearstains on her face.

"Amelia Pond, the girl who waited," the Doctor whispered in her ear and then kissed her on the forehead. Amy looked up at him, her eyes red from all the crying, but to him she still looked beautiful. Amy sat up a little straighter to kiss the Doctor properly.

"You don't have to kiss my forehead anymore, Doctor," Amy said with a watery sort of smile.

"But I like your forehead!" he said in fake disappointment. Amy managed a laugh.

"You know, I think I'm going to go back to sleep for a little while," Amy said. She was wiped out emotionally from all that had happened. Telling Rory about those emotions had taken a lot out of her, and the crying afterward only exhausted her more.

"Okay, sleep well," the Doctor said, kissing her forehead once more. Amy smiled at him before heading back to her room and getting back into bed. It didn't matter that it was already sort of late morning because time didn't much matter in a time machine. He gave a sigh, leaning against the console. The TARDIS made a whirring noise in response.

"Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be so happy," the Doctor said to his blue box. It had always been him and his box- the madman with a box. No matter who was with him, he'd always had his time machine, even when there was no one there at all. He remembered that time, only a couple years ago, when he'd tried to adventure completely on his own. How wrong he'd been, thinking that he was better off by himself. He needed people, and now specifically, he found himself needing Amy.

After a few minutes, the Doctor decided to walk by Amy's room. The door was closed, and he couldn't hear any noise from within. She was sleeping, as she should be. He smiled, thinking of how peaceful she must look, especially compared to how stressed she'd been over the past few days in particular. He needed to take her somewhere nice, to relax, he decided then.

With the next two hours, the Doctor racked his brain, thinking of where he could take Amy that would be both fun and relaxing. He contemplated going to the 39th century, when humans from Earth inhabited Mars. The Earth had been blown up and a part of it had broken off and gone on to get captured in Mars' orbit, becoming a moon. That moon was then made into a giant museum for anything and everything Earth and human related. But no, that probably wouldn't be Amy's idea of relaxing, as interesting as it would be. Amy would want something a little different, perhaps something closer to the time she came from.

He also spent some time reading a fairy tale, one of the cliché ones where the prince rescues the princess. He wondered if that was how Amy saw him as a child. He was a noble prince that came to save his beautiful princess so they could live happily ever after, grow old together, and die together. But the Doctor's heart gave a twang of pain when he thought about that. He could not be her perfect prince because he could not grow old with her, he could not die with her. He would not get older, he would only change. And then, would she even still want to be with him if he changed entirely?

He'd pushed so hard for Amy to stay with Rory, who could give her everything she wanted, or everything he thought she wanted. But Rory couldn't give Amy what she wanted more than anything- the Doctor. Amy wanted adventures with the madman in a time machine that had spit multiple foods across her kitchen table the first night she'd met him when she was seven years old. She didn't want the boy who had waited by her and cared for her throughout what seemed like a hopeless obsession and fantasy.

Not to mention, the Doctor knew that he wasn't used to anything anywhere near romance- look at how terrible he'd been with Rose! He was 907 years old, and he'd still only purposefully (without practical purposes) kissed as many girls as he could count on his fingers alone. Most of the time he'd kissed people to save lives or been kissed without his permission. And he was rubbish when it came to saying anything that bordered on romantic. He could get so flustered. How could he now deal with a fiery Scottish girl that demanded a lot of attention and clearly was attracted to him? He wasn't used to it.

"Well then, I'll have to try all the harder," the Doctor whispered to the fairy tale.


	5. Attempts at Happiness

The Doctor hadn't slept much that night- he was too bust planning and thinking for sleep to overtake his overactive mind. He was trying to plan how to romance Amy with one side of his brain, while the other side was telling him that he should just give up. How long could he keep her around anyway? Five years? Ten? Even ten years was only about 1% of his life thus far. How long before brilliant Amelia Pond would want to move on from her childhood dream of the Raggedy Doctor?

He promptly told that side of his brain to shut up.

Instead, he had to focus on where there were going to go next- somewhere with a balance between excitement and relaxing. Amy didn't strike the Doctor as the kind of girl who would want to sit down and simply relax after having so many adventures with her time-traveling Doctor, but on the other hand, he couldn't just keep throwing her life into harm's way every time they stepped out of the TARDIS. His brain battled itself with ideas, feeling like a failure a few hours in. It was odd to him how any mathematical equation known to just about any species he could crack in minutes at the most, but here he was struggling to please a human girl.

"Gah!" the Doctor grunted in frustration. He banged his head carelessly onto the TARDIS console to display his great irritation. There was a series of beeps that came as a result of this haphazard action; the Doctor looked up, hoping that he had not just crashed his time machine. Instead, the screen showed him a picture with coordinates next to it.

"Oh, you sexy thing," the Doctor said, excitedly jumping up onto his feet. "You're good, girl." By now, it was approximately the morning, though one never quite knew when on the TARDIS. As a result of this, Amy walked into the console room to hear the Doctor's enthusiasm.

"Do I want to know what you're watching on that screen?" Amy asked with a slight smirk. The Doctor quickly turned the screen farther away from the redhead, not wanting to let her know where he had discovered for them to go.

"Just talking to the TARDIS. Right, so you'd better get dressed," the Doctor said, noticing that Amy was in her nightgown- the same one she'd been wearing the night he'd unwittingly taken her away on the night before her wedding. The night when everything had changed, at least for him. He imagined Amy's life had changed earlier… fourteen years earlier.

Amy walked away from the Doctor' slightly disappointed. He didn't seem to have changed at all, despite everything that had transpired between the two of them. She sighed, knowing that she shouldn't have expected anything different- he was the Doctor after all. It would be back to adventures and escaping and thrill and… running. Lots of running. It was good she had such long legs, legs that she was currently dressing in a pair of denim shorts. Once she had also put on a shirt and fixed her hair and such, she returned to the console room and the Doctor.

"Right, so. I think you're going to like where we're going today, Pond," the Doctor said with his contagious grin spreading across his face. Amy smiled back, though she didn't even know where they were headed, but it didn't much matter. She would be going with her Doctor.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going?" Amy asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Nope! That would ruin the surprise," the Doctor answered with a glint in his eyes. He really hoped that Amy would like this. His TARDIS had shown him exactly what he'd needed to see. The blue police box lurched into flight, the Doctor and Amy holding on as per usual. When it landed, both went eagerly to the wooden doors to see what awaited them.

They were in the middle of a large field, full of horses of a sort. But Amy gasped when she looked closer- the horses had wings.

"Pegasus?" Amy asked, amazed. The Doctor smiled upon seeing her face. He, thanks to the TARDIS, seemed to have found the perfect place to take Amy.

"Well, that's one word for them. But who cares what they're actually called? Don't you want to ride one?" the Doctor asked, motioning toward a beautiful white mare that grazed on grass near them.

"Can we?" Amy asked. For a moment, the Doctor saw a glimpse of little seven year old Amelia Pond in her eyes, so excited and childish. "Every little girl wants a pony, but you're the Doctor. A normal pony wouldn't be good or exciting enough," Amy added, clearly thrilled to be there.

"A normal pony wouldn't be fantastic enough for the brilliant Amy Pond," the Doctor said, careful not to call her Amelia. Amy shook her head, and at first he was confused. Had he done something wrong? Or said something? But no, she was still smiling uncontrollably.

"You can call me Amelia, at least for today," Amy said, surprising the Doctor.

"Why's that?" the Doctor inquired, interested by her change of heart.

"Because today, it's like we're in a fairy tale after all," Amy responded, hugging her Doctor close. The Doctor found himself enjoying the payoff of his hard work (erm, the TARDIS's), but Amy couldn't wait to begin riding the white Pegasus mare that grazed beside them.

"Do you need reins or… or a saddle or anything?" Amy asked. She wanted to just jump right on this seemingly magical creature. The Doctor had picked just the right world- one without running this time. She wondered if there was a reason he'd chosen to go to this world. She secretly thought that he'd picked it especially just for her, but she would never voice that aloud. After all, the Doctor always had a reason, a good reason, for doing everything.

"Nope! Just hop on," the Doctor grinned and showed her by example, climbing aboard the white mare. He lowered his hand, offering it to Amy. For a moment, Amy wished time could freeze and that she had a camera to photograph this. It was perfect- her magical Doctor atop a beautiful white horse, reaching out his hand to her. Again, she thought of the word fairytale.

So Amy took the Doctor's hand and was hoisted up to sit on top of the horse behind him. The Doctor turned to her and gave her a devious wink before pushing his heels into the sides of the Pegasus. Without warning, the horse launched herself toward the skies. Amy gave a shriek of surprise and clung desperately to the Doctor, who laughed and threw his hands in the air as if he was on a rollercoaster.

"Say wheeee!" the Doctor yelled, reminding Amy of the time they'd plummeted to what she'd thought would be their deaths on the British spaceship. This time, Amy laughed and trusted him. After all, this horse was hardly going to kill her. The Pegasus had then reached a fair height and began flapping her wings much more gently, almost gliding through the breezy updrafts.

Looking down, the two saw a beautiful sight. There was green grass all around, dotted with other Pegasus and streams meandering through the meadows. Some of the horses took to the skies, such as the one they were on. The sunlight, or starlight really, shone brightly and colored the fields in yellow. It looked like a paradise.

But the Doctor's attention was focused more on the arms wrapped so tightly around him. They told him of absolute trust and confidence, holding on sometimes for dear life, sometimes just to feel. He cherished that feeling, even when it could be rather painful.

"Amy, you're, well, suffocating me," the Doctor squeaked. Amy loosened her grip, having hardly realized that she was still holding on so hard, though she had no need to.

"You're the one who kicked the horse and made it go that fast," Amy grumbled with an air of playfulness. The Doctor laughed quietly, feeling a sort of peace in hearing Amy tease him.

"What do you say we get some lunch?" the Doctor asked. He felt rather hungry and knew Amy was as well by the sounds her stomach was making. The Doctor gently nudged the horses sides again, signaling a descent. When the horse landed, the Doctor dashed back into the TARDIS before Amy could ask what he was doing and returned with a picnic basket, a blanket, and a blush.

"You made us a picnic?" Amy asked. She smiled at the Doctor's blush as he unfolded and set down the blanket. He could be so sweet sometimes, when he tried.

"Well, we would need to eat eventually, and I thought it would be practical this way," the Doctor explained, clearing his throat. He sat down on the blanket with the basket beside him, motioning for Amy to sit next to him.

"You were trying to be cute," Amy said, smirking as she sat down. The Doctor's blush only deepened, though he pretended not to be affected by Amy's statement, simply opening the basket. Inside, the Doctor pulled out apples, yogurt, bacon, beans, bread, and of course, fish fingers and custard. He set it all out, pulling out paper plates and napkins and utensils as well, then looked to Amy, waiting for her reaction.

"This is every food that you spit across my kitchen the first day I met you," Amy noticed, a slow smile creeping across her face. "You really were disgusting," she punched him on the arm jokingly. She then picked up an apple, starting to carve a face in it, just like she had as a girl.

"Not the fish fingers. I ate them, not spit them out," the Doctor corrected her with a grin. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course, how could I forget? A strange man in a blue box that wouldn't eat anything but fish fingers and custard. You know, it's a good thing you had some redeeming factors. Otherwise I'd have been seeing psychiatrists for a whole different reason," Amy said with a laugh.

"You never said exactly why you had four psychiatrists, apart from them saying I wasn't real and you biting them," the Doctor said. He was quite amused by the fact that she had bitten them- it showed them right for taking away a little girl's dreams.

"Well, my aunt thought I was really unhealthy. She thought I invented you as a sort of perfect imaginary boyfriend or something, so she wanted to make it stop and took me to them. That's where the psychiatrists came in," Amy explained. Whenever the topic of her childhood obsession came up, she found herself embarrassed, but the Doctor only seemed entertained if nothing else.

"Well, look at you now!" the Doctor motioned to her, carved apple in one hand with a bite out of it, the other he reached down and took hold of. The hand she'd held as he'd told her to run. The hand she'd held as she'd realized she could stay. The hand she held as she ached for forever.

"Maybe I'll try the bacon again…" the Doctor trailed off, putting a strip of bacon in his mouth before Amy could stop him. He spit it out, predictably, and returned to eating some fish fingers. After some time of eating and laughing, they pushed the basket off of the blanket and laid down on it. The Doctor took Amy's hand again.

"You should do this more often, Doctor," Amy said, turning on her side to face him, propping herself up on her elbow. The Doctor continued looking to the sky for a moment, not saying anything. He felt the weight he always carried with him settle in a little more.

"Maybe," he replied, unable to explain what it felt like, always running and never stopping to even glance behind, afraid that if he did, the sight of what he'd left behind might just kill him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to cleanse that feeling from his mind. When he opened his eyes, he propped himself up on his elbow, matching Amy's position, and some of those dark emotions evaporated.

He moved his body closer to Amy's, close enough that he could smell the scent of the apple she'd eaten last. He listened and heard her heartbeat quickened before he leaned in to kiss her. It was slow and soft, so very much the opposite of the first time Amy had kissed him. When he drew back, Amy's eyes stayed closed for a moment, caught up in him. The Doctor abruptly stood up, much to Amy's displeasure. She sighed, knowing that the Doctor was still the Doctor- he couldn't always be the perfect romantic and he really did know how to ruin a moment.

"Come along, Pond. There's much more to the universe than a Pegasus," the Doctor said with a smile, reaching out his hand for hers again. She returned the smile and took his hand like she always had.


	6. A Library's Secrets

"Isn't it magnificent?" the Doctor more so said than asked. There they were, in the 200s BC in Egypt, standing amongst thousands of scrolls. It was absolutely amazing to even hear about, but it was jaw-dropping to see. "The Library of Alexandria," the Doctor proclaimed, regally gesturing to the entirety of the building. Amy didn't know what to say for several moments.

"Doctor, that is amazing!" Amy gasped. This was ancient history, history that had been mostly erased because of a fire. Around them, there were some people milling around, but it was fairly quiet for the most part. A few men studied scrolls while leaning against the shelves lining the halls.

"Yes, it's the first library of its kind. Books were collected by the Egyptians from all over, even past their own borders, copied, and placed here. Such a shame, what happened with Caesar… but anyway, no way to stop _that_. What we can do is take a look around," the Doctor explained. He took Amy's hand and began leading her through the maze of scrolls, occasionally stopping to pick one up.

"How did they ever get so many books here?" Amy asked. "And why can't you save the books from burning?"

"There were laws where they would confiscate any book they could get their hands on. Made copies and such, kept terrific records. As for saving the books, the burning of the Library of Alexandria is one of those fixed points in time, one that no one can change without completely destroying how the universe working," the Doctor answered. He stroked the sides of several scrolls in a row, obviously pained by the fact that these scrolls would eventually be destroyed.

"I thought time could be rewritten," Amy said, repeating the Doctor's own saying. The Doctor sighed, removing his hand from the beloved books and records of history.

"Not all of it," he replied. His jovial mood returned to him as he began pointing out several other things in the library to her- books by people he'd been friends with, history texts that got the story completely wrong, and records kept quite well that he admired. Amy loved doing this, traveling with him, and she loved to see him get so excited, even if she didn't know what he was saying some of the time.

This was just what they both enjoyed doing- adventuring around in a place that normal humans could only dream of visiting, and acting as if it was completely normal. Well, Amy thought to herself, for the Doctor it _was_ normal. Even though she'd been traveling with him now for a while, the thrill of visiting new and foreign places had not died. She guessed that was one reason that the Doctor kept companions around- to impress them for one thing, and so they could share in his enthusiasm.

"Homer's work is here. Euripides too, now there's a nice fellow, he gave me a mule once. All of the great works, some of which survived in some other way to live on to your time on Earth, Amy," the Doctor commented in passing. Amy was not listening completely, however, due to the fact that she had picked up a scroll at random and was reading through it. The Doctor moved on, looking for who knows what.

The TARDIS' translation was kicking in, so Amy could read the words, but that was far from understanding them. The wording of the scroll she'd picked up was so complex that she felt it may as well have been in another language anyway. She glanced up at the wall above the shelf where she'd gotten the book from, noticing an inscription that said:_ "The place of the cure of the soul."_

She looked back down at the scroll, noticing something that hadn't been there before and froze. At the bottom of the page, right where the last line of words should have been, there were three words: _Hello Amelia Pond._

*DW*DW*DW*

"Doctor?" Amy called. But he seemed to be out of earshot, and she couldn't see him either. So, she looked back down at the scroll, finding that there was more new writing underneath of where it had said hello.

The scroll now also read: _Can't you speak?_ Amy swallowed nervously, but as curious as she was, she couldn't let this go. She cleared her throat.

"Yes?" she whispered, feeling rather silly speaking to some parchment, but then again, she'd seen the Doctor do stranger things. Her eyes widened when words materialized, this time at the top of the scroll, erasing words from the beginning.

_Good. So, Amelia Pond, how are you? _She looked around, making sure that no officials or studious men around her could hear her.

"I-I'm fine. How are you doing this?" she whispered. She knew that she should go and find the Doctor to show him this, but she had no idea where he'd gotten to, and it wasn't like words on some paper were going to hurt anyone anyway.

_We are called the Written Ones. We live on only through the written word._

"So you're… alive then?" Amy asked the paper, or the words perhaps. An official glanced over at her, but quickly looked away. Amy remembered to lower her voice.

_Of course. And you, you are human, but you have traces of Time on you. You are a time traveler._ At this, Amy almost dropped the paper. How could these "Written Ones" know that she had traveled in time? And what where traces of Time?

"How do you know that? Can you see me?" Amy questioned, no longer feeling foolish. She now felt as though she had to find out what this was, as if it was very important.

_Yes. Our eyes are given to us through ink. Our knowledge is given to us through thoughts. Would you like to share your thoughts, Amelia Pond?_

At this, Amy felt more than a little uneasy. This wasn't making any sense. Why would she want to share her thoughts; what did that even mean? She started to get a bad feeling about all of this, but she didn't stop, not just yet.

_We are so close to your thoughts, Amelia Pond. If only you would write on this scroll, just one word, any word, and we could gain so much knowledge. Just one word._

Amy found herself reaching for some spare ink and a scribing tool that sat near her on a shelf, barely aware of what she was doing. She lifted the tool, dipping it in the ink. What word should she write? The Written Ones had said any word would do. She lowered the tool to the scroll, beginning to form the letter "D".

"Amy! What are you doing?" the Doctor yelled, coming into view. Amy did not really register what he was saying; he was irrelevant at this point. She had to write on this scroll.

"That is a valuable artifact, and you're writing on it?" the Doctor said, incredulous. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. He reached out and pulled Amy's hand away from the parchment.

"No!" Amy said, trying to break free of the Doctor's grasp so that she could write a word. She had only gotten to the "D" but had five more letters to go. That way she could do what the Written Ones had asked for her to do.

The Doctor looked down at the scroll Amy had been looking at and beginning to write on. What he saw made his hearts skip a beat. He saw the written words that the paper had spoken to Amy, saw how it addressed her by name. They called themselves the Written Ones. And now, they had told Amy to write a word down so that they could share her thoughts.

"Don't you dare!" the Doctor yelled as Amy pushed the Doctor off of her arm with unexpected force. She quickly scrawled five more letters on the paper before the Doctor could stop her. When he looked down, he saw that he was too late.

Amy had written the word "Doctor" on the papyrus.

"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor said. Amy's eyes flashed, turning yellow for a moment, then turning back to their usual color but cross-eyed. Her body slumped over to the ground in an ungraceful manner. One of the officials in the library looked over curiously but he did not advance.

_We can see you now, Doctor, as she sees you. We can read her every thought, every corner of her soul. Did you notice what word she chose to write?_

The Doctor felt anger begin to flood his body. He had never before encountered these beings, but they certainly weren't on his good side. Now they were taunting him after clearly having damaged Amy in some way.

"Alright, Written Ones," the Doctor started, sneering a little at the mention of their name. "You're looking into her thoughts, right? Then look and see exactly who you're messing with. I'm the Doctor. So you should get out of Amy's head right now before you feel the anger of the Last of the Time Lords," his voice trembled with rage. No matter where he went, different beings wanted to hurt or kill him in some way. He made enemies of all kinds, and he could live with that. But if those enemies crossed the lines and tried to hurt his friends, that was crossing a line. And they were now not only messing with his friend, but a girl he'd fallen in love with.

_We know who you are. And we have waited for you for many years. We know that we can not kill you, but we can certainly cause your companion harm. Watch as the life is drained from, as we absorb her soul._

"I will not let you take her! Even if I have to burn this whole place down, I will stop you!" the Doctor bellowed at the parchment. At this, the official strode toward the Doctor, grabbing his arm.

"This is a royal library, sir. Are you making a threat against the crown?" the official questioned. He glanced down at the parchment the Doctor now held, but he either did not see the words written on it or did not care, as he looked back up at the Doctor's face.

"No. Now go away," the Doctor snapped. The official glared at him before slowly backing away, unsure of what to do. He saw no evidence of the strange man carrying any fire-lighting materials. Perhaps he was simply unstable in the mind, like his wife's brother. Nonetheless, he should really keep an eye on him, just in case.

"Actually, do you know what that inscription means up there, above the shelf?" the Doctor asked, reconsidering shooing the official away. The official looked at him in a way as if he had asked a stupid question after glancing up where the inscription on the wall was.

"What inscription, sir?" the official asked.

"Great," the Doctor muttered. "Exactly what I needed." Then, focusing on the official again, he asked, "What's your name, then?"

"Darian," the man said. "And yours?"

"Call me the Doctor," the Doctor said. Normally he would have smiled and continued on, but right now he was a little more than preoccupied. He had to save Amy's mind.

"Doctor? Doctor what?" Darian asked. This man didn't seem at all like a doctor. If anything, he seemed like he should be seeing a doctor about his mental state.

"Just the Doctor. Now, tell me Darian, where did this section of scrolls come from?" the Doctor asked. He had to find out something, anything, about these scrolls so as to find out how to stop these strange beings that spoke through paper and ate thoughts. He started pacing in front of the shelf, pausing to pick up a scroll and putting it back down in his rushed way of formulating a plan.

"Confiscated from a boat that came from Athens. Why? Is there something wrong with them?" Darian answered. The Doctor shook his head, trying to think clearly without his overwhelming emotions getting in the way. Maybe he should try asking the paper again, but he knew if he did Darian would think he was crazy. If the man couldn't read the inscription on the wall, it probably meant that he couldn't see the writing from the Written Ones. On a whim, the Doctor looked down once more at the scroll.

_Her thoughts are becoming ours. Not even the great Doctor with his TARDIS and time travel can stop this, because you are physical and we are not._

The paper was taunting him again.

"Sir?" Darian asked, concerned by the look of fury that was taking over the Doctor's face.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'the place of the cure of the soul'? This is important," the Doctor asked seriously. Maybe Darian could help him after all.

"Well, some people call the library that. Others say that the only cure for the soul is the death of a broken soul…" Darian answered, trailing off as the Doctor kneeled down and picked up Amy's face, opening her eyelids and examining them. "Is she alright, sir?" Darian asked.

"No, she's not. I'm trying to fix that," the Doctor said. He thought on what Darian had said, the second part especially. Death is the only way to cure a broken soul. So these Written Ones "cured" souls by destroying them? Is that what they were doing to Amy? And some people called the library that place of the cure of the soul. So the library is where the cure, or death, of the soul occurs. It was all connected.

"Sir?" Darian caught the Doctor's attention. "If she's not okay because of her soul… well maybe you'll need to return to whatever tore her soul in the first place," he advised. The Doctor widened his eyes. This official of the library had great wisdom, much beyond his fairly young years.

"Thank you," the Doctor said enthusiastically. He picked up the scroll and sat next to Amy's slumped body. "Now as for you…" he addressed the paper in a whisper as Darian began walking away, back to his post. "I'm going to fix this. Like I told you, I will stop at nothing to save her. And as you've mentioned, I have the power of time on my side. You think that you can get away with hurting my friends, but you are mistaken. You'll regret this day, I swear. And in a few years, you'll meet your own end. I'm not going to rush that. But what I _will_ do is stop you from taking Amy's mind and soul," the Doctor said darkly. He began lifting Amy up, trying his best to carry her in a position that could be considered graceful.

_If you try to correct what we've done, you'll risk undoing everything. You would be a fool to risk everything for one girl, however much she may love you. If you fail, you'll not only lose her but you'll lose so much more. Goodbye then, foolish Doctor._

The Doctor gritted his teeth, containing his pure anger, knowing he couldn't do anything to these beings that did not quite exist in the physical world. They would surely perish in the fire that would destroy Alexandria, and it was not up to him to hurry that day along.

"Alright, Pond. This is going to be complicated," the Doctor murmured to the unconscious girl in his arms as he returned to his TARDIS, propping her up against the nearest shelf of scrolls, praying to every god he'd ever heard of in all his travels that he could save her from this fate.

*DW*DW*DW*

The Doctor tried to push the image of Amy propped unconscious against the shelf out of his mind, focusing instead on the controls on the TARDIS console. He put in the time coordinates for just a little while before he'd left the Library of Alexandria and kept the location the same.

He knew that this was risky, even for him. He was about to enter the exact place he had just left, and in doing so he would seeing himself less than an hour apart, something that could destroy many things and split events into two completely separate timelines. Actually, the more he thought about it, he was about to create another timeline no matter what he did. He would just have to get in and out of there with Amy as fast as possible. He didn't know exactly what he would do then, but he knew that he had to fix this, and the only way he could think of doing that was risky, but saving Amy was worth most any risk.

The TARDIS landed, and the Doctor started running, just like he always did. He ran out of the TARDIS toward where he'd left Amy before, when she'd just been browsing the library. He saw her, running toward her.

"Amy!" he yelled. Sure enough, she was there. She turned and looked at him; she had just been about to pick up a scroll, the same scroll he know housed the Written Ones.

"Doctor? What is it?" Amy asked. The Doctor grabbed her hand and began half-dragging her to the TARDIS. "Where are we going? What's going on?" Amy asked, much more urgent now. The Doctor knew that he had no time to explain now, not when another him could come walking back at any time.

"Just come with me!" the Doctor yelled as a reply. He glanced behind them, realizing that he heard footsteps approaching the shelf where the cursed scroll resided. It was him, returning to find where he'd left Amy. This was bad, very bad. He took a turn, making sure that his other self couldn't see him and that Amy didn't notice him either. They ran past the scrolls until the reached the TARDIS where the Doctor practically shoved Amy inside. Once inside, Amy tried again to ask what was going on, but the Doctor knew he still wasn't safe. His other self could have followed and seen the TARDIS, ruining his plan. So the Doctor set the TARDIS to go somewhere, anywhere, the middle of space. After the TARDIS was in motion, drifting in space, the Doctor slowly sat down on the steps up to the console, breathing heavily.

"Doctor?" Amy asked tentatively. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that the Doctor always had a reason for running.

"Alright…" the Doctor sighed. He'd have to try his best to explain what was going on without telling Amy exactly what had happened. "Something happened to you, something not good. So I had to go back in time and get you again. In doing so… well, I may have created an alternate timeline because I was in two places at once and there were sort of two of you in my semi-linear timeline…" he trailed off, knowing that this didn't make much sense to her.

Amy tried to take it all in. Sometimes he didn't make much sense, and this was one of those times. What she'd gotten is that something had gone wrong, so wrong that the Doctor didn't seem to know what he was doing.

"So what are we going to do now?" Amy asked. The Doctor always had a plan. And if he didn't, he always thought of something quickly. The Doctor sighed, smacking his head.

"Of course! That wise little Egyptian. You have to go back to the place where your soul broke!" the Doctor exclaimed. Amy was really lost then, not having any idea who the Egyptian was that he spoke of or what he meant by her soul breaking.

"Okay. Amy, we're going back to Leadworth. Well, you're going back to Leadworth," the Doctor explained. Amy stared at him, waiting for him to take it back, like it was a cruel joke or something. He was telling her she had to go back home. What had she done? Everything had been going fine! She'd thought they were finally getting somewhere, finally coming to terms with things. Any words she wanted to say were caught in her throat in shocked sadness.

"Amy, you're going to need to go back, just for a day, so that this timeline can fix itself," the Doctor told her. Relief flooded Amy's being. So that's what he meant. He had scared her for a moment, making her think he was leaving her there permanently.

"Hopefully, now that we've gotten where we have, your soul can be fixed…" the Doctor said, running a hand through his messy brown hair. He was worried, very worried. How could Amy's soul be repaired when he couldn't even tell her what had happened back at the Library of Alexandria? He could now only hope that his confession of love for her back in the TARDIS's library would be enough to fix her broken soul, once she was back at the place where she'd broken.

"Well, if I'm going back, I'll have to go back to work. So I should really brush up on my skills before we go back," Amy replied, giving him a devious smile. He didn't realize what she'd meant until she stepped forward and took hold of his shoulders, pressing her lips to his. Her lips moved against his, and he tried to respond, but his mouth suddenly felt as clumsy as his hands, which were currently making unknown motions in their uncertainty of where to go. In a manner of seconds he managed to place one hand on Amy's lower back and the other ran through her hair. Then, just as he felt he was getting along fine, she ended the kiss, pulling back.

"So? What do you think?" Amy asked. Both of them were a little out of breath, considering the length of their kiss, but Amy had kept her composure much better than the Doctor had. Amy's heart was beating faster than usual, he noticed, but other than that, she simply tossed her hair over her shoulder (hair which he noticed he'd messed up slightly) and smiled as if she had been looking forward to this. The Doctor on the other hand felt like a train wreck. His two hearts seemed to be beating a mile a minute, his face was flushed, his breathing was accelerated, his hands were making odd motions again, and his brain was fried. Not to mention his tongue was tied, and not by what it had been a moment earlier during their kiss.

"You'll _definitely_ be fine."


	7. Broken Souls

Amy walked out of the TARDIS and into her backyard, a place she hadn't been to in a long time. There was the ever-swinging swing, the shed that had replaced the one the Doctor smashed, and the house, everything looked the same as the night she'd left. It felt odd, being back, especially considering the fact that she hadn't expected to come back until her wedding night. That night would never come now, she realized with a mix of emotions. Part of her had looked forward to that day, but the other part had dreaded it and anticipated it with fear. Now she would never find out which emotion would have taken over in the end.

She slowly walked toward her door, entering and walking upstairs to her room. It too looked just the same. She noticed the boxes with her dolls and pictures of the Doctor and her, smiling at them. One doll of the Doctor included a crude imitation of fish fingers in his hands.

This was her childhood before her- years of waiting, growing less hopeful and more desperate with each year that passed. Finally, when she'd turned eighteen, she'd agreed to go out with Rory. He'd been asking her since they'd turned thirteen, but she'd always turned him down, either stating the Doctor as her reason or simply saying that she'd rather love him like a brother. Then she'd turned nineteen and her world had turned upside-down once again. Amy's Doctor came back, but not to stay. So Amy agreed to marry Rory, hoping he could fill that hole in her soul the Doctor had left. It may have been cruel, she realized, to marry a man she really did love, but not with her whole heart. That's when she decided that she would have to go find Rory.

Amy walked out her door once more, heading for the hospital where she knew Rory worked, even though she knew that she too should be going to work. Work didn't hold it's appeal, not when she'd only be here for a few days, not when she knew she'd feel guilty with every kiss. She walked, not having a car in her driveway to take, but it wasn't a long walk anyway.

Upon arriving, Amy strode up to the front desk, asking where Rory Williams was. The desk lady told her a room number, a conference room, and Amy headed to the elevator, going to the second floor. She walked the halls, finding the conference room the desk lady had told her to look in. Amy looked in the window of the door to see several doctors and nurses around a table, obviously in a discussion. Rory, she noticed, was not paying very good attention. He was doodling absently on the paper in front of him containing the important points of the meeting. Amy waited for a few minutes until, finally, Rory looked out the window of the door in passing and did a double take. Amy swallowed, nervous, as Rory said something to the man next to him and left the conference room.

"Amy? What are you doing here?" Rory asked. Amy could tell he was surprised to see her, but she couldn't tell if he was angry. His face held curiosity, a look she'd seen so many times.

"I… I don't really know," Amy replied, not knowing how to explain what all had happened at the Library of Alexandria because she didn't understand it herself. Rory's brow furrowed, but it seemed to be mostly out of confusion.

"Where's the Doctor? Don't you go with him now?" Rory asked. _There_ was some resentment. With those words, Amy knew Rory wasn't just asking if she traveled with the Doctor- Rory was also asking if she was with the Doctor in other ways.

"He's coming back for me," Amy responded, hoping that sufficiently answered both the direct and indirect questions. Rory still looked somewhat upset.

"He's said that before," Rory pointed out. "Fourteen years, two more years…" Amy took a deep breath, not wanting to get angry with him. How could she when she'd been so terrible to him?

"Look, I just came here to-" Amy started, but Rory stopped her, holding up his hand.

"Save it. I'm not interested," Rory said curtly. Amy closed her mouth, feeling a wash of guilt. This was not how she'd wanted things to go. Actually, she had no idea how she'd wanted things to go, but this was not it. A woman with brown hair pulled back into a tight bun stuck her head out of the conference room.

"Rory? I thought you said you had to go to the bathroom," the woman asked with a bit of accusation in her voice. Great, Amy thought, now she could get him in trouble at work too. What a wonderful person she was!

"Alright, Miranda, just gimme two more minutes," Rory said. The woman gave Amy a disapproving look but retreated back into the room. Rory turned back to face Amy and Amy opened her mouth to speak, wanting to say she was sorry.

"No, I don't need to hear it," Rory stated firmly before Amy could talk. "Look, I've got two minutes. I'm not mad at you, not really, I mean, how could I be? I'm mad that I kept waiting for you to change when I knew you were still in love with him. I'm mad that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be the kind of man you needed. Yeah, I'm disappointed, upset that you didn't tell me sooner, but I should've seen it coming. Should have seen it again when I found out you kissed him. I may not be as smart as the Doctor, but I still have a heart. I'm not about to swear vengeance on you two or something stupid like that. I get that you love him. You'd just make bloody sure he's worth it before you do anything stupid, okay?" Rory explained. That was so Rory, keeping calm and rational, even when he didn't like how things were going. He could get flustered, but he always returned to his usual clumsy composure after a little while.

"Now, I have to go back to work, and you have to go back to your adventures," Rory said with a sigh. It was obvious to Amy that Rory was still hurting, but she could also see that he wasn't permanently broken- he could heal. And, she realized, so could she. Maybe this was what the Doctor had been rambling about with healing and broken souls. Rory turned away and started toward the door of the conference room, but Amy stopped him with a hug, a hug that wasn't in the least ways romantic, but much more like that of two friends who had known each other for a long time. Amy hugged him tight, thought at first Rory just stood there, he eventually turned back and returned her hug.

"Goodbye, Amy," Rory said. He didn't seem angry, or sad, or even disappointed. He just seemed weary.

"Goodbye, Rory," Amy reciprocated. It seemed final, though she didn't want it to. Rory turned again, opening the door.

Amy watched him go and heard the lady named Miranda ask him as he walked in, "Who was that?"

"Just an old friend stopping bye. Don't worry, they're leaving now anyway," Rory answered. An old friend. It was accurate, but it seemed like it minimalized their relationship so much. They had been through so much more, seen and done so much, almost died together, and even been engaged. But that was all in the past, she supposed. She grabbed a small piece of paper and a pen, quickly scrawling a note. On her way out of the hospital, she handed the note to the desk lady she'd talked to previously.

"Can you give this to Rory for me please?" Amy asked, handing the note to the lady. She took the note from Amy, looking a little confused.

"I thought you just went up to see him," the desk lady said in confusion. Amy smiled.

"Yes, but he'll need this," Amy insisted. The lady shrugged and agreed to give him the note. On that note Amy had written: See you again sometime. She felt she had to; after all, she couldn't very well leave behind her oldest friend for the rest of their lives. Amy would have to come back to visit, after Rory had some time to heal. With that, walking out of the hospital, Amy felt as if a piece of the hole she'd had in her soul had been replaced and filled in.

Upon returning to her house, Amy sat down right in front of the spot the TARDIS had appeared that first night when she was seven years old. She had waited there all night and most of the next day until her aunt had dragged her back inside. Now, she found herself becoming tired, so she laid down on the ground, not realizing just how tired she was until she found herself drifting off to sleep.

*DW*DW*DW*

The Doctor watched Amy walk out the TARDIS door, hoping that this would work out, hoping that Amy's soul could heal, hoping that he could fix the timeline issue. He didn't know what he was doing. That had happened before, many times, and he was used to flying by the seat of his pants, but that didn't stop him from worrying immensely. He pushed down a lever, sending the TARDIS to float through space, going to the place where a planet had once been that was no more. He set the TARDIS settings to extend the oxygen field to ten feet beyond the door and opened that door, looking out at what had once been a glorious planet. He had spent more time on that planet than anywhere else in the universe, though his increasing time spent on Earth, saving it, was starting to rival that amount of time. The planet had been reduced to nothing, not existing at any time now- Gallifrey, the his home planet, the land of the Time Lords.

If Amy had to face her demons, then so did the Doctor, he'd decided. He sighed, reaching out a hand to trace the imaginary outline of the planet. It was his choice to destroy Gallifrey, to burn it to the ground, and to ensure the time lock. It was his choice to make himself the last of his kind, to make himself a lonely man.

But no, he wasn't totally alone. He'd had companions, ones that meant a lot to him, such as Rose, and now Amy. Even others meant a lot to him, even if he wasn't in love with them, like Martha, Donna, Jack, and even Rory. Even Rory had been a good friend to him, despite both of them having been chasing after the same girl.

The Doctor watched as a comet flew by, thinking how it might look like a shooting star to unknowing people farther away. He remembered how, for centuries, humans insisted on making wishes on shooting stars, claiming that they would come true. He chuckled softly at humanity's stupidity… and yet how ingenious they sometimes could be.

He wondered what Amy was doing at that moment, if she was dealing with her broken soul, if it was healing. He also wondered if by healing her soul the other timeline could somehow be erased. The Doctor knew that Amy's timeline was already a fragile thing, something that he had not come to understand yet, so that made him worry all the more. If the timeline was not erased, then Amy was still dying back in the Library of Alexandria. That could not happen. The Doctor felt his insides coil up just at the thought of that happening. He had not felt this strongly for someone since Rose. It was odd for him to think about Rose. It wasn't that his new regenerated form simply had a different taste in woman like it did for food; that would mean that he could never love someone for more than one regeneration, and that had already happened once, between his ninth and tenth. It was just that he did not love Rose anymore. He accepted that she was living in another world now, happily, with his half-self. Plus, he had Amy now, who he loved, and who he'd actually managed to start a sort of relationship with, however lame or uncertain or unspecific that relationship was.

He took a deep breath and set his TARDIS controls for the morning after he'd left Amy in Leadworth, not knowing what he'd find when he arrived there.


	8. The Woes of June

**A/N: So, I figured that it was time to get back to some of the original timeline from the series, but I will be changing several things up. As of now, this is taking place after The Lodger.**

The Doctor walked through the doors of the TARDIS, out into Amy's back yard. The first thing he noticed was a sleeping Amy, right in front of him, lying down on the ground. He kneeled down, gently running a hand through the ends of her hair. She was so peaceful here, much more so than he'd seen in a long time. He almost wished that he didn't have to wake her and bring her back to reality, but he did, gently tapping her shoulder.

"Huh?" Amy grumbled, cracking her eyes open and stretching her arms out. The Doctor found her face to be cute, the way she had her eyes scrunched up and how confusion took over from her tiredness.

"Hey," the Doctor greeted her quietly. Amy opened her eyes more, smiling slightly at the Doctor. He'd come back for her, and on time this time.

"Alright, I'm here to take you…" the Doctor paused, unsure of what to call his blue box for Amy and the travels they pursued.

"Home," Amy filled in confidently. The Doctor couldn't hold back a grin. So Amy thought of the TARDIS as home? He'd better not tell his time machine that- it would make her too cocky. But yes, the Doctor felt a warm sensation ripple through him at the simple word Amy had given him.

"Home it is," the Doctor repeated, helping Amy stand up by grasping her hand. He didn't let go as he lead her into the blue police box. With the typical moaning and groaning, the TARDIS was off. Amy stood at the console, examining the many complex controls that dotted its surface contentedly.

"So, is it fixed now? Is time back to normal?" Amy asked, attempting to hide her concern. She didn't know what had happened back at the Library of Alexandria, but it was something that had scared the Doctor, scared him so much that he'd risked time to stop it from happening and created another timeline. Whatever it was, it must have been terrible.

The Doctor sighed, not knowing how to answer Amy's difficult question. He wanted to say yes, of course he'd fixed it, he was the Doctor. He wanted to tell her that everything would be alright. But would it? He knew that this issue with the alternate timeline was not the first, and probably wouldn't be the last, not with the way things were going. The Doctor knew that Amy's entire life was fragile, easily changed or completely uprooted. The cracks, all resembling the one he had first seen in Amy's bedroom when she was a little girl, still existed and were getting worse. He knew he'd have to fix them, somehow.

At a lose of what to say, he knew that he had three options- lie, tell her everything, or explain it in a way that made it sound not so bad. He chose the last option, for many reasons.

"Amy, you remember when we were in the forest with the Weeping Angels?" the Doctor asked. Amy nodded, so he continued. "Those men, the clerics, they disappeared into the cracks, and they then disappeared from all of time. Well, only something very powerful could have caused that to happen. And it's related to you, it has to be somehow. And it had something to do with the day June 26th, 2010. That's why I returned Rory to three weeks before that date. And that's why I returned you one week before that date. One day, we'll have to return to June 26th, but not today. The cracks… have changed things," the Doctor half-rambled, half-explained. Amy processed, staring at the Doctor, not quite understanding what he was saying.

"So… the cracks are what caused the timeline split? And you're saying you know when this is coming from but we're not going to that day to find out?" Amy asked. She didn't understand why they wouldn't go to June 26th if that was the day that was related to the cracks. If the cracks could be stopped, so much could be fixed.

"How about this? We visit the oldest planet in the universe instead?" the Doctor suggested, putting on his usual adventurous grin. But Amy wasn't buying it.

"Doctor, these cracks are following me! And you just want to ignore them?" Amy asked, feeling annoyed. The Doctor was trying his best to avoid this, but he was being extraordinarily unsuccessful. He didn't want to go to that day- what if Amy was lost into the cracks there? What if she was erased from his history forever? He could not have that happen. The Doctor strode forward, cupping Amy's face in his hands without warning.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispered. Amy said nothing, only relished the feeling of the Doctor's fingers on her face, gently rubbing her cheeks. The Doctor started to lean in to kiss her forehead, but he changed his mind at the last second and gave her a short sweet kiss on the lips instead.

The Doctor walked back to the console, punching in the coordinates for the oldest planet known in all of the universe. He couldn't risk Amy, so he had to move onto the next adventure. And he was too scared to even ask if Amy's soul had been healed. What if the answer was no? He wasn't scared of many things, but Amy brought fears into his life he'd never had before. That's what happened when you cared about something- you worried more.

"Alright, so, the oldest planet in the universe! Good bit of history there, huh? They say there's a cliff there with an inscription- the oldest words in the universe, can you imagine? No one's been able to translate it before, but we have the TARDIS translation system!" the Doctor said with excitement. Even though this was partly just a distraction from going to the day June 26th, the Doctor truly was excited about going to the oldest place in the universe.

"Okay, fine. But don't think that I'm done with that day, Doctor," Amy huffed. She tried to act mad at him, but she couldn't contain her adventurous side, the part that wanted to see this place the Doctor was now talking about. With the usual pushing and pulling of various controls, the TARDIS landed on a planet filled with beautiful trees and bright starlight coming from the sky. It was as if they were in the middle of the jungle, and right in front of them was a cliff face that, indeed, did have an inscription on it, thought Amy seriously doubted that had been there as long as the Doctor said it had. The cliff face read: "Hello Sweetie."

"Oh," the Doctor sighed, obviously partly disappointed. But, never one to be able to resist a mystery, he noted the coordinates written below the message and rushed back into the TARDIS.

"What, no exploring this time?" Amy asked. Here they were, at the center of something that may or may not be the historical planet ever, and they weren't even stopping to say hello?

"If you want history, I'll take us to a museum next time!" the Doctor said. Amy ran into the blue box behind the Doctor and they took off, about to go to the mysterious place the cliff had sent them.

***DW*DW*DW***

After Amy had left, and his meeting was over, Rory went downstairs to leave the hospital. He felt strange, as if he'd sort of had a fight and a peaceful meeting at the same time. Sure, he was hurt by the fact that Amy had chosen the Doctor over him, even when she'd sworn it was Rory she loved after the whole incident with the Dream Lord, but that wasn't all that was going on. He had always known that Amy wasn't the type to settle down under most any circumstance, and so he wasn't completely surprised. Plus, Amy had seemed truly apologetic when she'd just visited him, as if she wanted to patch things up between friends. Overall, he felt considerably better since that day when he'd forever left the blue police box.

"Excuse me, Rory Williams?" the desk lady called out. Rory turned around in surprise. What would she be asking him about?

"This note was left for you," she said, handing him a small slip of paper. Rory read it, not quite understanding at first. It said: "See you again sometime." Who would have left him this? Unless…

"The person who left this here… was it a woman with long red hair?" Rory asked. The desk lady nodded.

"Yeah, she was a pretty girl," the lady said, then returned to her work by answering the phone on her desk. Rory left the hospital, still thinking about the note. Why would Amy have left him a note when she'd just been talking to him? And what did she mean by it? It had said that she'd see him again. That didn't make much sense- she'd left him to travel all across the universe through time with the Doctor. How could she see him again?

***DW*DW*DW***

"Why is she sending us here? Oh, girl, why are you always so inconsistent?" the Doctor groaned. He checked the console screen to see where they were. The time and date read 11:23 PM, June 25th. The Doctor froze for a split second, then he started freaking out at the console.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor yelled. Amy looked at the time and place, realizing why the Doctor was freaking out.

"I'm going out there," Amy said quietly. The Doctor seemed too absorbed in what was going on with the TARDIS to hear what she was saying, so she opened the door. At the sound of the door opening, the Doctor whipped his head around to see Amy leaving.

"No, don't!" he yelled. But it was too late. Amy had already closed the door behind her and was heading toward her house. She noticed that there was a light on, mysteriously. She crept closer, trying to stay hidden in case someone was inside that really shouldn't be. Then, the door burst open and a figure started running out of the house. Amy jumped and tackled the person and that person let out a grunt of surprise.

"Geroff me!" the person yelled. Amy quickly pulled back slightly, still pinning the person to the ground. He looked up.

"Amy?" he asked in surprise, eyes going wide.

"Rory?" Amy returned. She got off of him hastily just as the Doctor made his way toward them.

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked, confused and slightly disturbed as to why Amy was just getting off of Rory.

"What were you doing in my house?" Amy demanded. So that was it. The Doctor figured Rory had come out of the house and Amy had tackled him. That would be just like her.

"I was just picking up a few things that were mine. You know… like some clothes and stuff that you'd taken from me earlier," Rory said, a little uncomfortable.

"Right, this is all fantastic and awkward, but what's more awkward is what might happen if we stay here. Like, dying and falling out of time and all that. Very awkward," the Doctor said, taking hold of Amy's hand and attempting to pull her back to the TARDIS.

"No, Doctor, we can't just leave Rory here. What if he gets caught up in it?" Amy suggested. The Doctor mentally banged his head against the wall. Amy always did like saving people, but sometimes that could get extremely annoying.

"Fine, we'll bring him with us. For now," the Doctor agreed begrudgingly. He led the two back to his time machine before the clock could strike the dreaded midnight.

**A/N: Rory's back on the TARDIS temporarily as the three are thrown into drama as of the next chapter. How will they interact with each other now that things have changed so much?**


	9. The Perfect Trap

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory stumbled into the TARDIS, heading straight for the console, which the Doctor set for the coordinates given to him from the cliff once more. This time, the box seemed to agree, for a minute later, the three were in ancient Rome.

"Wow. I never thought I'd do that again," Rory said, impressed by the Doctor and his box all over again. It took anyone a while to get used to showing up in new places with very little warning, amazing places. He cleared his throat, not quite knowing how to approach being with his ex-fiancé plus her new man. They were together… right?

"So… what all's been happening with you two?" Rory asked with some uncertainty. He didn't want to pry, but he didn't know what else to ask to start a conversation. The three were walking toward what appeared to be a Roman encampment. All around them, soldiers saluted them as if they were people of importance. The Doctor simply ignored them, but Amy seemed to be enjoying their respect. She nodded and smiled at each one that saluted them.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Traveling to places you'd never think were possible. And some running. Always running," Amy answered. Rory nodded, not knowing how else to make conversation. Luckily for him, the three came upon a tent with two guards out front, halting the Doctor in his path.

"Are you here to see the Lady Cleopatra?" one of the guards asked.

"I suppose we are," the Doctor replied. The guards stepped aside and opened up the tent, revealing a beautiful yet slightly familiar woman with cropped black hair sitting in an extravagant seat. Some lower class Romans busied themselves around the tent- some cleaned, some prepared food, and others awaited Cleopatra's command. The Cleopatra in question turned to look at the three full-on, and that was when they realized what was so familiar about her.

"Really, River? Cleopatra?" the Doctor sighed. River, in a black wig, laughed.

"Hello sweetie," she greeted the Doctor in return. Amy and Rory waved and said hello to River as well.

"You graffitied the oldest cliff in the universe!" the Doctor hissed at her. River shrugged in return.

"You wouldn't answer your phone!" she shot back. The Doctor opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it.

"Look, I brought you here for a reason."

"You said you'd meet me again when the Pandorica opened."

"No, I haven't. But I guess I will" River sighed, obviously not liking how the Doctor's timeline never matched up with her own. After this, a lot seemed to happen at once, and the next thing the trio knew, they were at Stonehenge and River was flying the TARDIS.

"So what's under there do you think?" Amy asked quietly, referring to the hole that had opened up in the center of Stonehenge. The Doctor turned to her for a quick moment before the three of the went into the hole, coming upon a large metallic box.

"The Pandorica," the Doctor practically whispered. He walked toward it slowly, as if holding the box in reverence or perhaps even fear.

"Um, what exactly is it?" Rory asked, again feeling out of the loop like always, like before he had left time traveling and returned to Leadworth. Some things never change, he thought ruefully.

"It's the perfect prison, for the worst of enemies. There was a goblin. Or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. Nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it - one day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world. The Pandorica was built to contain that thing," the Doctor explained, his voice quiet, but hardly calm. Rory stopped for a moment, looking back out the hole that they had come through, noticing that the stars were shining very bright, brighter than he had ever seen them before. Then, he realized that the stars were moving.

"Um, Doctor?" Rory said. The Doctor was still pacing in front of the metal box.

"Not now, Rory. I've got things to work out," the Doctor brushed him off. Rory continued looking up at the sky. Some of the stars were getting bigger, closer.

"No, really, Doctor?" Rory said again, this time with more force in his voice.

"What?" the Doctor yelled. He walked over to where Rory was standing and looked out to the same view that Rory had. He stared for what seemed like a full minute. Then he swallowed.

"It appears we have company," the Doctor announced. Amy joined the other two in looking out the hole.

"How many are there?" Amy asked in amazement. Sure enough, it seemed like there were thousands and thousands of what looked like stars at first glance.

"Too many for us to count, too many for us to deal with. This could be difficult. So why is it that perhaps a million starships happen to appear right when we find the Pandorica? It can mean only one thing- the Pandorica is opening," the Doctor explained.

***DW*DW*DW***

The trio left for Stonehenge while River returned to the TARDIS, setting the machine to fly for Stonehenge to meet the Doctor. But all seems to be going haywire as the blue box lurches, sending River flying across the room. A few sparks start flying, so River lands the TARDIS, quickly exiting. Instead of finding the Doctor, Rory, and Amy waiting for her, River finds Amy's house.

River walks into the house and up to Amy's room, finding that it had been ransacked. Paint is chipped, papers are torn, books lie open on the floor, and childhood toys are in piles of mismatched mess. River leans down to pick up some of the toys- dolls of Amy and the Doctor that Amy had obviously made as a child or even adolescent. Looking around, she sees pictures Amy had drawn depicting the redhead and her Raggedy Doctor. River shakes her head with a sigh.

"Oh Doctor, why do I ever let you out?" River said sadly. It was clear that one visit from the Doctor had made Amy completely obsessed. Sometimes, River wondered if the Doctor knew how big of an impact he had on almost everyone he met, even if they only knew him for a few minutes.

She then looked down at her watch, realizing the time and date: June 26th, 2010. Her eyes widened and she ran back to the TARDIS. She had to get anywhere, anywhen, but not Earth at that time. She tried to reset the machine, but sparks flew worse than before and the TARDIS started rocking back and forth. River, with one last resort, tried to open the door, but she was met with a brick wall.

"I'm sorry, my love," River whispered.

***DW*DW*DW***

The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver to the edge of the Pandorica, trying to find out how close the box was to opening. He looked at the sonic, reading the information.

"Not good. No. We've got minutes," the Doctor muttered. He ran around the Pandorica, thinking, trying to think of his options. Why was it that he was always the one trying to fix these things? He needed something to keep him focused. But, more importantly, he needed to find out what was happening with River. "Phone," the Doctor commanded of Rory. Rory obliged, tossing the Doctor his cell phone. The Doctor dialed the number for his TARDIS and River picked up.

"I'm sorry, my love. The TARDIS took me to June 26th, 2010," River said upon answering the phone. The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut and held his head in his hand. This was not supposed to happen. Nothing like this was supposed to happen. Why did everything go wrong? River went on to tell him that someone had ransacked Amy's house and that there were books on Romans and Pandora's box there.

"Rory, hold this," the Doctor said, thrusting the phone back into Rory's hand without hanging up on River. Rory picked it up.

"Um, hello," Rory greeted River. He didn't know why he was holding the phone, but he thought it would be appropriate to at least say hello. Meanwhile, the Doctor walked quickly toward Amy, hugging her tightly.

"We're going to fix this. I know you can do it," Amy reassured him. The Doctor pulled back slightly and kissed her, trying to thank her and calm himself down in one motion. Amy put her arms around his neck, holding him close.

"What's going on there?" River asked, desperate to find out how bad things were.

"They're, uh, kissing," Rory stated awkwardly. There was silence on the other side of the phone.

"Who?" River asked after a moment.

"The Doctor and Amy," Rory said, realizing that River probably still thought that he was engaged to Amy, as she had not seen the Doctor for a while and hadn't been able to catch up.

"Really? Now?" River sighed. Rory was glad that she didn't make a point of asking when Amy had left him for the Doctor or asking why, if that had happened, that Rory was traveling with them still. River was good that way, usually avoiding topics that were only uncomfortable for everyone involved, unless said topic was being used to tease the Doctor. "At a time like this…" River trailed off. Rory agreed, but they didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

"Hey, guys?" Rory tried unsuccessfully to get their attention. He noticed that the starships were getting much closer, and things were about to get ugly.

"Tell him that I said he has to run. That should at least get his attention," River said. Her tone sounded final, like something was desperately wrong.

"Is it true?" Rory asked. He'd never seen the Doctor run away from a direct battle when he needed to find something out. Sure, they'd run from all sorts of creatures and people, but they never ran from the truth. So River suggesting that the Doctor had to run was very serious, and Rory wondered if it was only a way to get the Doctor's attention or not.

"Yes," River said quietly before their signal broke. Rory closed the phone and took a deep breath; they were in for quite the event, and now was not the time to be afraid.

"Doctor! River just told me to tell you to run," Rory said with as much confidence as he could muster. At this, the Doctor stopped kissing Amy and turned to face him.

"What?" the Doctor said slowly. It wasn't so much a question as just a word, a word to say when he couldn't think of anything else. In the moment, all three of them knew that this was no ordinary adventure. This was not an exploration or a fun time or even a minor problem. Something big was happening, something very, very wrong. And they knew that it would be their job to fix and that every threat in the sky, literally, would come down for them.

"Okay. This is it," the Doctor said without even trying for a fake grin.

***DW*DW*DW***

And then the sky fell.

Thousands and thousands of starships containing everything, every living being, that had ever hated the Doctor landed all around Stonehenge. This would not be a war, this would not even be a minor battle. This was surrender or immediate and simplistic death. Daleks, Slitheen, Cybermen, Judoon, Sontarans, Atraxi, and many more set down on the Earth, all for the Pandorica.

"Look, all of you, I know you're here for the Pandorica, but look who has-" the Doctor started what may have turned into a speech, but a Dalek cut him off.

"We are not here to obtain the Pandorica! We are here to reseal it!" the Dalek said in it's odd voice. The Doctor whirled around, looking at the massive crowd of aliens. But why would they come here if not to take the Pandorica?

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe," the Dalek elaborated. 

"All of reality is threatened," said a Sontaran. 

"All the universes will be deleted," a Cyberman added. "We will save the universe from you." The Doctor looked around, trying to understand what they were saying. How was the Doctor threatening to end the universe? No! If anything, he was trying to stop exactly that from happening. But there was no way he could convince this many vicious aliens of that. And how were they going to stop him, supposedly, anyway?

"Your TARDIS will explode, causing the end of all things," called out a Sontaran. "Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS." The Doctor wanted to just scream at them and bash their heads in, but two Cybermen had already grabbed his arms. Behind him, he heard the Pandorica opening, but he couldn't turn around to see it because he was restrained.

"No! You don't understand! I'm not the only one who can!" the Doctor yelled. But it was in vain as none of the aliens listened to him. They pushed him back and strapped him into what he realized was the interior of the Pandorica. Everything clicked in the Doctor's mind at that moment. Amy's room had been ransacked so that his enemies could create a trap for him. All of the Roman soldiers and even the Pandorica itself was created from Amy's memories. And then, they'd created the perfect prison for him.

" No! Please listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it!" the Doctor pleaded. But it was too late. The door to the Pandorica closed, and the Doctor thought no more.

**A/N: It was time to get to the Pandorica, I thought. But I wanted to change some things around, like not have Rory be an auton and simplify the whole thing such as not to drag it out. More changes will come in the next chapter because I don't want this to be identical to the original storyline and I have my own ideas.**


	10. What Never Happened

"No!" Amy screamed, trying to run at the two Cybermen that had just locked the Doctor into the Pandorica, but Rory held her back. There was no way she could defeat those two Cybermen, no less the entire alliance of enemies that still surrounded them. "No! Give him back!" she screamed more, angry tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Our mission is complete. The Doctor had been neutralized. Return to starships," a Sontaran said, leading the enormous group slowly out of the cave in the ground and out of Stonehenge.

"As for you…" one particularly nasty Slitheen hissed, pointing her gun at Amy and Rory. She took a shot, straight into Amy's heart, then turned and laughed, leaving for her starship.

"What was that for?" Rory bellowed, trying to chase after the Slitheen. "You've already taken the Doctor, now why did you have to kill her?" Rory screamed. The last of the starships flew off, seemingly taking all the stars away from the sky. Rory felt himself breaking. He had just lost two… friends. Yes, they were both his friends, even though he still held some anger toward them. But how could he be angry now that Amy was dying, practically dead, and the Doctor was locked away forever in the perfect prison? Rory sunk to the ground, holding Amy's limp form.

"Oh, Amy. What am I going to do?" Rory whispered, gently brushing the hair out of her face. She was his oldest friend, and besides the Doctor, pretty much his only friend if he was honest. Sure, he had some of the guys, the ones he had invited to his stag night (one he would surely never forget) but they weren't close to him, didn't know much about him. Amy had been there since he was a kid. And now she was dead.

"You're going to take this and save the world," said a familiar voice. Rory looked up to see none other than the Doctor, wearing a fez and holding a mop. Rory's face screwed up in confusion.

"You? But you're…" Rory said, not even knowing how to start to ask what was going on. He'd just seen the Doctor get sealed into the Pandorica not twenty minutes ago.

"Yes, I'm in the Pandorica. Or was. Well, from your point of view I still am. Now, here's the thing, I have a plan that will not only save me but also my… Amy," the Doctor dove right into speaking. Rory blinked, knowing not to ask too many questions. The Doctor picked up the mop that was leaning against his shoulder and twirled it around in front of him.

"I've never really used a mop before. Fascinating, but now's not the time to start! Okay, so here's the plan- you're going to use the sonic to go and open me up there in the Pandorica, like Christmas you see! Only instead of using your fingers, you'll use the sonic. But it is rather like opening a present because you'll start at the corners. So, anyway, you'll let me out and put Amy in. Any questions?" the Doctor explained. He replaced the mop to leaning against his shoulder.

"Um, yeah, why are we putting Amy into a prison?" Rory asked. The Doctor had always blown his mind, but this was really pushing it. There was nothing that Rory could think of that would make him want to put Amy in there.

"Because not even death can help you escape from the Pandorica. Anyway, then, we'll have to pop into the future again and wait for a scan of living Amy Pond's DNA, which will be in about 2000 years. So, I've decided to speed things up a bit by attempting to travel with the Pandorica in tow with my current form of travel, which is River's vortex manipulator, as far as I can. Then from there, I'm sending you forward into time to meet up with River and let Amy back out of the box after having convinced seven year old Amelia Pond to touch the Pandorica, which will be in the National Museum," the Doctor ranted his explanation, speaking quite quickly, but Rory caught it all he hoped. The Doctor then looked down at his watch. "Oh! Gotta go. Remember, you'll have to pop into 1996 at the National Museum when you're done. Got it?" The Doctor added. He tossed Rory the sonic and two spare vortex manipulators and vanished without a sound. Rory looked down at the three devices in his hands.

"Here goes it, then," Rory mumbled to himself. He ran back to the Pandorica, strapping one of the vortex manipulators to his wrist as he did so. He pointed the sonic at the nearest corner of the box and pressed a button, hoping it was the right one. Sure enough, the Pandorica began making some clicking noises and opened up, revealing the Doctor.

"Well hello," the Doctor greeted him with a grin. Rory undid the latches that held the Doctor in place and then handed him one of the votex manipulators. "How did you get that sonic? And this vortex manipulator?" the Doctor asked. He pulled out his own sonic and pointed it at the one in Rory's hand. When the two met, a spark was created between the two.

"You gave it to me," Rory said.

"Well of course I did, I'm quite clever really. That means I have a future, that's nice isn't it?" the Doctor said, smiling. Rory did not return it.

"Amy's been shot," Rory said gravely. He pointed to the wall on the other side of the room where Amy lay, slumped against the wall. The Doctor froze for a moment, reminded painfully of the Library of Alexandria where Amy had looked just the same, except without the blood. He swallowed, calming himself down. This was no time for panicking. This was a time for saving the day, like always.

"Tell me the plan. No, wait, you don't need to tell me the plan, because I invented it! Or, I will invent it. So what would I do?" the Doctor mused. Rory watched, practically seeing the gears working a thousand miles a minute within the Doctor's mind. "Right, I've got it! So I'll take the Pandorica into the future as far as I can, and you'll go all the way to 1996 and meet up with River. Oh, and while you're there, can you try to start saving the universe before I get there?" the Doctor said. Rory agreed to the plan and set the vortex manipulator to send him to 1996.

The Doctor strode across the room and picked up Amy, all the time painfully reminded of the library. How could he let this happen to her again? But no, this time there was a plan. There was always a plan. And if there wasn't a plan, he'd make it seem like he had one until he actually did. He heaved Amy into the Pandorica, strapping her in. He then leaned forward to gently kiss her forehead.

"It'll be alright, Pond," he whispered. He stepped back and the Pandorica closed. With a deep breath, the Doctor placed his hands on the Pandorica and set the vortex manipulator for 1996, knowing he'd be a lucky man to make it half that far.

***DW*DW*DW***

Rory stumbled as he landed in the National Museum, 1996. People were bustling all around, so luckily no one notices that he essentially popped out of no where; or, to be more accurate, out of Rome in 102 AD. Rory looked around, knowing that a young Amelia Pond had to be around here somewhere. He thought to himself for a moment, then decided to visit the exhibit on Rome. Sure enough, after pushing through the crowd, Rory found little seven year old Amelia looking at some Roman soldier duplicates while her Aunt Sharon wandered off toward another exhibit.

"Hey, Amelia," Rory whispered, beckoning for the young girl to follow him. He knew that when Amy was a little girl she would never let a mysterious man go- case in point, the Doctor. He was right, and so Amelia ran over to him.

"How do you know my name?" Amelia asked. Rory started walking briskly back toward the Pandorica exhibit, leading her along.

"That's a long story. For now, there's something we need to do," Rory said. At last they showed up in front of the Pandorica, but they were stopped by the Doctor.

"Wait until they all leave for the night," the Doctor said.

"But how are you here? I thought you were staying behind until-" Rory started.

"Until 1996. Yes, yes, I had to wait about thirty years, linearly, but then I caught up with you. Now we've got to get the other guests we've invited to the party!" the Doctor explained quickly. He led Rory and Amelia behind some fake plants in one of the exhibits. Next to them was a model of a person with a fez on. It was nearing closing time anyway, so now they just had to wait for the museum to close up.

"Thirty years?" Rory whispered.

"Yeah, thirty. The vortex manipulator burnt out after that," the Doctor whispered back, holding up a burnt up object.

"Wait! Grab that mop next to you! That's exactly how you looked when you told me the plan about getting you out of the Pandorica and putting Amy in," Rory hissed. The Doctor picked up the mop and held out his hand.

"Can I use yours? Mine's been cooked," the Doctor asked for Rory's vortex manipulator. Rory obliged and handed it over. With the press of a button, the Doctor disappeared. A minute later, he reappeared.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Amelia asked in wonder. The Doctor put his finger to his lips, indicating that they should all be quiet. An announcement came over the loudspeaker that the museum was closing up.

"I'm the Doctor. But you'll know that eventually," the Doctor responded quietly. Amelia looked at him curiously, trying to understand him. Even now, Rory could tell that Amelia was fascinated by this strange man. They waited out the next several minutes in silence until the last of the guards left and the lights were turned out.

"Okay. Now then, Amelia, you need to touch the Pandorica," the Doctor instructed, brushing the fake leaves aside as they stepped out of the exhibit. Amelia did not even ask why. She simply strode up to the big box and placed her hand on the side of it. The Pandorica glowed green and the Doctor took the sonic out of Rory's hand. He went up to the box and pointed the sonic at the corner of it, causing it to open up and reveal the older Amy Pond.

"Alright then, this is where it gets complicated," Amy said upon seeing her younger self standing in front of her. The Doctor hurried to undo the restraints and let Amy out. She lost her balance for a moment, but the Doctor steadied her.

"Right then, one more guest to save. We've got about fourteen minutes before the TARDIS completely eliminates everything left on Earth. To the roof!" the Doctor said. He took hold of Amy's hand and indicated that Rory and the young Amelia follow them. The four ran to the stairs, running up the flights until they reached the top- the roof. In the sky, the sun appeared to be a massive fireball.

"Why is it with you the sun always goes weird?" Rory asked with a sigh, referring to the first time he'd ever met the Doctor.

"I'll be right back, I've got River to save. As for you three… oh, well it's two again. Just stay put," the Doctor instructed. The Doctor disappeared and Rory and Amy looked around. Sure enough, the young Amelia had disappeared as well.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked with confusion. Within seconds, the Doctor popped back holding River's arm.

"Now we've got all four. And Amy, you'd asked where the younger you went. She simply does not exist anymore. The universe is collapsing and there were two of you. She was the first to go. We are all anomalies because we've traveled through time, so we're just the last to go. Soon enough, we won't have existed at all either," the Doctor explained.

"Right then, I have questions. But number one is this- what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" River asked, turning to look at the Doctor.

"It's a fez, I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool," the Doctor replied. River turned to look at Amy and an understanding passed between the two. Amy turned and grabbed the Doctor's fez off his head, throwing it into the air. River shot it.

"Oh! That's a shame. I can always get a new one," the Doctor sighed. "Anyway, we've got other things on our hands. I've got to save the universe for the millionth time, without thanks. But how do I save a universe that never existed?" the Doctor talked out loud, but it seemed more like he was thinking out loud. Then he spun around in a circle, getting an idea.

"Yes! If a universe was created out of one tiny particle in a big explosion, we can recreate it the same way. The Pandorica should have saved a memory of everything the universe was, and it can be restored. Anything that can be remembered can be restored. We need to recreate the Big Bang," the Doctor exclaimed.

"But how would we do that?" Amy asked.

"The TARDIS exploding is what's caused the cracks all over space and time. That explosion is happening everywhere, everywhen. If I fly the Pandorica straight into the TARDIS… the Big Band will happen again, sending the essence of the Pandorica all throughout history and space. I'll reboot the universe," the Doctor explained more, running back down the stairs. The other three followed him, beginning to understand what he was suggesting.

"No! If you do that, you'll need to fly straight into the explosion. You'll die!" River yelled. They approached the bottom of the stairs and the Doctor flung open the door, heading for the still-open Pandorica.

"But I'll save the universe," the Doctor argued. "Plus, since I'm a complicated time being, and the TARDIS is too, that should satisfy the cracks. They'll seal up and everything will be back to normal."

"No, look! I'll fly the Pandorica into the explosion. It'll work for me too, I'm a time traveler," River said. The Doctor shook his head.

"I won't let you do that. You'll never have existed," the Doctor refused River's offer, still making for the big box. River sped up and jumped in front of him.

"I know, but it will happen to me anyway!" River yelled. The Doctor looked at her oddly and started to ask why, but River leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. The Doctor withdrew slowly and backed up.

"Okay… but are you sure?" the Doctor asked. A single tear ran down River's cheek.

"Very," she answered. Then she turned to Amy and Rory. "Well, I'll never be seeing you lot again. Actually, I'll never have seen you at all. So… goodbye then," she said sadly before strapping herself into the Pandorica. Before Amy or Rory could protest, the box closed around her.

"Wait, what? What does she mean? How can you let her do that Doctor?" Amy asked. The Doctor turned to her but didn't look her in the eye.

"I guess I'll have to tell you now, considering we'll all forget in about two minutes," the Doctor said. He sounded broken down. "River was going to disappear from all of time anyway. You see, you know how I've said time can be rewritten? Well, that's not without consequences," the Doctor started to explain. Then he looked up, meeting Amy's eyes. "When you decided to stay with me and leave Rory in Leadworth, we rewrote time. In the timeline before that, you and Rory got married and had a child. That child… would have become River Song. Now that you're not getting married… she'll never have been born at all," the Doctor finished. Rory and Amy were both stunned. They looked at each other and then back at the Doctor.

"So you mean… River would have been out daughter? But now… she never will have, so she'd okay with being exploded?" Rory asked, clarifying the amazing fact he'd just learned. He'd just met his own child, or what would have been his child. He could barely take it in at all.

"And now we'll never get the chance to know her," Amy whispered. The Pandorica disappeared, and the Doctor knew they only had seconds now.

"We won't even remember. She was my future, one of my futures. But we chose differently," the Doctor said, walking closet to Amy and enveloping her in a hug. The three of them whispered goodbye and witnessed an enormous explosion in the sky. And then, nothing had happened at all.

**A/N: Yeah, sorry to any River fans who may happen upon this. I like her too, but her getting erased from time fit with the storyline. I will be away for the next week, so my usual daily updates of this will cease until I get back.**


	11. Memories and Changes

**A/N: So, I'm back from vacation after a week! Sorry that I haven't been able to update until now, but as soon as I got home I made sure to put this up for whatever lovely people happen to read it. Enjoy!**

When the Doctor woke up, he was sprawled out on the TARDIS floor. This was not exactly a normal experience for him, and the last time it had happened, he had had a very interesting night, one not quite sober, the night before. So he thought, trying to remember the previous day. All he could remember was rebooting the universe, but something didn't sit quite right with him. He remembered going to ancient Rome and being shoved in the Pandorica, then he'd been released by Rory with the help of his future (now past) self… a lot of complicated time stuff, and then the Pandorica had exploded and the universe had been rebooted. The cracks had closed, and the universe was safe again. So where was the problem? He didn't know, but it felt off. Also, he had no idea how he'd ended up passed out on the floor in the TARDIS.

"Ugghhh," Amy groaned, a few feet away from the Doctor, also seemingly waking from being passed out on the floor. For a moment, the Doctor wondered if, in fact, he really had been drunk the night before, but he was reassured by the fact that everyone's clothes were intact and the fact that Rory was also waking up a little farther away. The Doctor propped himself up on his elbows as the other two sat up.

"Wow. I have a massive headache," Rory mumbled. Amy groaned in what appeared to be agreement. The Doctor felt a minor pulsation of pain in his head, but it was far from massive. Perhaps it was his superior Time Lord threshold for pain. Amy kicked him.

"Ow! What was that for?" the Doctor yelped, sitting up and rubbing his leg that had just been kicked.

"To prove you don't have a high threshold for pain," Amy responded. The Doctor then realized that his thoughts had come out aloud instead of staying put inside his head.

"Are we all… hungover?" Rory asked, rubbing his eyes like a sleepy kid. Amy snorted.

"As if. Why would we all have gone drinking together?" Amy poised the question. Rory shrugged, as if it was too much effort to really think about the conversation for any longer.

"I dunno… to celebrate?" Rory tried one solution out.

"Celebrate what?" the Doctor asked, unclear of what exactly they'd done that really warranted celebration, especially not one that left them without memory of what had happened.

"Rebooting the universe or what ever," Rory said. The Doctor dismissed this with a wave of his hand.

"Weekend hobby," the Doctor responded. Amy thought about the day before, settling on the idea that they'd gotten back into the TARDIS after blowing up the Pandorica and starting the Big Bang Two and all passed out. It had been quite an exciting day, plus the explosion had probably knocked them all out. Then, they woke up without remembering certain little details.

"So um… that was great fun and all, but I'd really like to go home," Rory said awkwardly. He felt bad, saving the world and ditching, but he felt a little like a third wheel now that the whole drama was mostly over. Plus, it seemed like Amy wanted to talk to the Doctor about something by the look on her face.

The Doctor stood up and went to the console without a word, sending hid blue box flying through time and space toward Leadworth, 2010. When they landed, Rory stood next to the door, debating on how exactly to say goodbye.

"Well, uh, bye then," he said. Not the best he'd ever done, but it was adequate enough. Amy shook her head and stepped closer to him, embracing him in a bone-crushing hug. Rory was surprised, but he returned the hug as best as he could.

"Bye, Rory. And don't think you'll get away with never seeing us again," Amy said, pulling back. Rory smiled and opened the door to the TARDIS, exiting into Amy's backyard.

"Hey, Doctor? Why is it that you always land in her backyard?" Rory asked out of curiosity. It was really true if they thought about it.

"Habit. Goodbye, Rory," the Doctor said with a grin. Rory nodded in response, watching as the magical blue box disappeared before him.

As the TARDIS dematerialized, Amy stood at the door with her arms crossed, looking at the Doctor. He shifted uncomfortably, not liking the look Amy was giving him, but he didn't want to be the first to say anything, so he returned to fixing his motor. After several minutes, Amy gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, come on Doctor. Can't you tell when a girl wants to talk?" Amy asked. She was definitely annoyed. She had business, but the Doctor just wasn't very good at these sorts of things.

"Never," the Doctor answered honestly. He shook his head to himself, wondering if he would ever get any better. A voice in the back of his head told him that if he hadn't gotten the hang of it after 900 years, he never would. He clamped an imaginary hand over that part of his brain, effectively shutting it up temporarily.

"Well, we need to talk," Amy said. But before either of them could start anything resembling a talk, a blue book fell from somewhere in the ceiling of the TARDIS and dropped on top of the Doctor's head.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, clasping his head where the book had hit. Curious, Amy leaned down and picked up the book. She opened it up, seeing that on the first page was written: _River's Diary of the Doctor_. Amy's eyes widened as her brain suddenly flooded with memories that seemed brand new. She skimmed a few pages, noticing the fairly neat scrawl the diary was written in and noticing the Doctor's name in every entry. She remembered. There was a woman named River Song. And she could've been her own daughter.

"Doctor… look at this," Amy said quietly, passing the blue diary to the Doctor. TARDIS blue. He opened it and flipped through the pages in silence. He then put it down without a word. He remembered. River Song had been his future, but that future was erased for him. He'd chosen Amy instead, plus River had sacrificed herself to the cracks in time. The woman named River Song did not exist now except for in the two minds that had discovered her diary.

The two of them sat in silence for another few minutes, not knowing what to say. Their memories were now intact, but neither was sure if they liked it better that way. River was an opportunity that had never really happened, one that was prevented because of Amy and the Doctor's choices. Now she had never existed at all, reduced to a dream-like memory. Amy's previous expression returned to her face.

"Doctor, what are we?" Amy blurted out. She hadn't wanted to jump right into this, but she had anyway, and there was no turning back. The Doctor's expression told her that he had at least an idea of where she was going with this. "After that one day with the Pegasus, we've been running again, caught up in drama. Tell me, are you running from me, from us? You ran from River, are you running from me too?" Amy asked. The Doctor looked at the redhead with sad eyes, eyes that held so much in them. He ran a hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable with this conversation.

"I'm always running. Haven't you known that since the beginning?" the Doctor replied softly. Amy took a step toward him but stopped. She wasn't done yet, and this couldn't wait. She'd told this man that she was in love with him, that she had been for years, and he'd reciprocated that statement, then she'd left Rory. But they'd never really established any sort of relationship. Amy wanted to know where things stood. Was the Doctor really hers after all her time waiting? Or did he belong to the stars alone, as he always had before?

"But are you running from… _this_?" Amy gestured to the space between them, a space that seemed displeasing too large to the Doctor. He wanted to close that gap, but he knew it wasn't the time. Amy Pond was not a girl that would stop until she got her answer.

"No. I'm running from myself. I'm running from the fact that I want… need… you desperately, like I've never needed anything before except maybe traveling. I'm running from the possibility that my very worst nightmare might come true like I've seen it before, not that long ago," the Doctor answered. He gave an involuntary shudder as he thought about the very nightmare he spoke of. Amy tilted her head slightly, not knowing exactly what he was referring to.

"What nightmare?" she asked. She saw the Doctor's pained expression and knew that it was something serious. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost, but she knew better. He'd just seen a terrible ghost of his past, something that he could only describe as a nightmare because there was no better word.

"Now that the cracks have closed, I suppose that timeline is completely destroyed… I'm talking about that day at the Library of Alexandria. That day, I left you for a few minutes, and when I came back, you have signed away your soul to a scroll inhabited by despicable creatures from hell called the Written Ones. I put you in danger without even knowing it just by taking you to that event in history. I saw you… dead. The soul sucked out of you, nothing left. And it terrified me like nothing else in the deepest darkest holes of the universe," the Doctor paused, taking a shaky breath. "So I risked destroying the universe and went back into my own timeline to get you before you ever saw those cursed words and took you back to the place where your soul was broken in the first place. Leadworth," he finished, but he knew this wasn't over yet.

Amy searched the Doctor's eyes, seeing them go from guilty to pained to angry to terrified to almost wary by the end when he explained how he'd saved her. She was amazed by how much expression she could read in his eyes and the movement of his eyebrows as he told his story. She felt herself wanting to reach out and stroke the worry lines on his face away, wanting to chase away the nightmare that lived in his mind.

"But that won't happen now," Amy reassured him. His eyes bore into hers, and she let them. He closed the gap between them at last, pulling her into an embrace that conveyed every emotion he'd felt when he'd seen her dead.

"I love you, Amy Pond," he whispered into her ear, then kissing the side of her head. Amy rested her head against his shoulder. An odd thought popped into her mind as she thought about everything that had happened, and she felt as though she had to share it.

"So if it didn't work out with me, you were going to get with my daughter?" Amy pointed out. The Doctor pulled back enough that Amy could see his horrified face. She laughed at him. "How would you have explained that to her?"

"Well, I… I suppose I would've just… er… it doesn't matter now because I chose to be with you!" the Doctor stuttered. Amy continued laughing at the Doctor's now reddening face.

"I'm sure we could find that out, along with other surely naughty things you would've done in this handy diary," Amy suggested playfully, pointing at the diary which was lying on the console. The Doctor shook his head furiously.

"No, no, I think we're just fine as it is. I'm with you, remember?" the Doctor said quickly. At that, Amy smiled.

"With you? Define how I'm with you," Amy demanded. This was exactly what she had wanted to know at the beginning of the conversation. For a moment, the Doctor looked truly stumped. Amy wanted to laugh again- finally, a definition that challenged even the Doctor's magnificent brain.

"Well, you're with me, as in here with me physically," the Doctor tried for an answer. But Amy shook her head, indicating that wasn't good enough for an answer. Clearing his throat, the Doctor tried again. "You're with me physically and emotionally. You're with me in our… home. And with me in love. So what more are you looking for?" the Doctor tried again. Amy narrowed her eyes at him. He was getting warmer, but he still wasn't exactly where she wanted him.

"A definition, Doctor," Amy answered his question. His eyes flickered all around Amy's face, which was still quite close to his own after there recent hug.

"Er, I think you're what humans from your time period on Earth would call my… girlfriend?" the Doctor said. Amy's face split into a grin. He hadn't exactly asked her, but he'd gotten close enough with a little prodding along the way. And that's just how the Doctor was- brilliant in every way except for when it came to his own feelings and the sort. She ruffled his messy brown hair and rewarded him with a mind-blowing kiss, an event which the Doctor doubted he'd ever get used to.


	12. No More Waiting Mostly

The next morning the Doctor woke up, this time in his own bed. He looked around nervously for a moment, to see if anything was abnormal, but he saw that he was quite alone, no enemies or problems or people that confused his emotions were there in his room. The Doctor gave a sigh of relief before getting up and putting on his usual jacket and pants and, of course, bowtie. When he exited the room and made his way to the console room, he noticed a distinct lack of Amy. He knew that he himself had just woken up, but he wanted her to be awake too so that the two of them could go on adventures together.

No, no, not adventures. He should take her somewhere nice. The only thing that they'd had that was anything similar to a date had been the Pegasus planet, and that was too long ago for the Doctor. Really, their relationship, which had just been confirmed at last, was mostly full of running and escaping from things that wanted to kill them. As much as the Doctor found those situations fascinating, he doubted Amy saw the romance in those adventures.

So the Doctor left the console room and went to the room he'd given to Amy when she'd first came aboard his time machine. The door was a dark blue, much like the exterior of the TARDIS, and it had a simple sign that said Amy's Room. The Doctor shook off the thought that the sign had once started to read Amy and Rory's Room. That was no longer, so he shouldn't dwell on it.

As usual, the Doctor didn't bother with knocking. He found it too mundane and a waste of time, since even if the door was locked, he would just use the sonic to open it anyway. When he entered, he found Amy curled up into a ball with her sheets wrapped all around her like a cocoon. He mouth is opened slightly and her eyes are closed peacefully. With each breath, her chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm. As he observes her, he wonders, not for the first time, how he'd managed to find such a beautiful girl and convince her to come and travel with him.

Lifting his hand, the Doctor walked toward Amy's sleeping figure and gently stroked her hair, her magnificent ginger hair. Amy's face scrunched up as if she was confused as to what the sensation was against her head. She opened her eyes to see the Doctor hovering above her when she woke, a sight she never thought she'd ever have. She did nothing for a few moments but staring into his eyes, those wonderful eyes. She wanted to sit up and pull the Doctor down to her so she could kiss him, but she also didn't want to ruin the moment of having him there when she woke. Sadly, her wish was ruined anyway, but this time by the Doctor deciding to open his stupid mouth and talk.

"Good morning, Amy. So what do you say we go somewhere fun today?" the Doctor said with a soft smile. Amy wanted to tell him to shut up and yank on his shirt until he fell over and bloody kissed her, but she didn't. She couldn't. The Doctor's livelihood was roaming the stars, saving worlds, and running. She couldn't take that away from him, and she honestly loved going with him. So instead, Amy sat up, pushing the sheets and blankets away from her.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" Amy asked. The Doctor grinned even more at her.

"Anywhere you'd like," the Doctor said, pausing in between each word such as to make it more dramatic.

"Anywhere?" Amy asked suspiciously. The Doctor nodded that indeed, he meant anywhere. So Amy thought for a moment, wondering where in all of the universe she wanted to go. Then, an idea struck her. Ever since she was a kid, she had always loved any sort of amusement park. She loved almost any ride- spinning, lurching, diving, fun with metal machines or wooden tracks. Her aunt always said it was because of her over-developed want for adventures.

"Do you know of any good amusement parks, Doctor?" Amy asked. The Doctor's grin grew and he took hold of her hand, practically pulling her out of bed and making his way toward the console room. Amy dug her heels into the ground.

"Yeah, no. I'm not going anywhere else in just my nightie again," Amy said firmly, referring to the large amount of time at the beginning of their adventures together that she had stayed in her night gown. The Doctor sighed, obviously viewing a wardrobe change as an inconvenience.

"Okay, fine. But hurry up!" the Doctor sighed. Amy didn't let go of his hand, however, and she dragged him to her wardrobe, much in the same style that he had just dragged her toward the console room. She finally let go of the Doctor's hand once they'd entered the enormous closet. Amy started picking through the collection of garments while the Doctor stood next to her.

"Um, would you mind telling me why I'm here?" the Doctor asked. Amy threw him a smirk over her shoulder that made the Doctor's face heat up a bit. He didn't know how great of an idea it would be for him to be here while Amy got changed, but that annoying little voice in the back of his head told him that he had done the same to her when he'd gotten the very tweed jacket he was wearing. And Amy hadn't turned her back then. Amy noticed the Doctor's face and her smirk grew.

"Oh, you naughty Doctor. I just wanted you to help me pick out my clothes for the park is all," Amy said, playfully pushing his shoulder. The Doctor laughed nervously, wondering why exactly his mind had traveled in that direction at all. The next few minutes were spent with Amy holding up a few pieces of clothing and the Doctor attempting to give his opinion on them.

Amy held up one skirt for the Doctor's opinion- it was short and denim. The Doctor cleared his throat before answering.

"That seems as good as any," he offered, becoming tired of this deciding on clothing. His problem was easily solved by wearing the same jacket every day and washing it before he showered.

"So you like it then," Amy said. The Doctor gave her a look of bewilderment. Where had she gotten that idea from? He'd said that the skirt was as good as any other, and she somehow got the impression that he liked that one better than the others.

"Well, to all the others you gave some sort of remark that made no sense. This one you said something almost positive," Amy explained her logic. The Doctor still did not see how that meant that he liked the skirt, but he didn't feel like getting an explanation that would probably leave him more confused than ever. "I bet you like it because it's short," Amy said with a returning smirk.

"What? No, no! Of course not, that's not why I like it!" the Doctor said, flustered. Amy turned to him and pointed one finger at him with a look of triumph on her face.

"Aha! So you admit you like it then?" she yelled in victory. The Doctor shook his head and left the closet, totally done with helping to pick out Amy's outfit. He looked behind him and into the closet one last time as he closed the door, but he saw that Amy was starting to pull her shirt up over her head, so he closed the door quickly.

The next two minutes or so, the Doctor waited for Amy to finish with her outfit. When she came out, he took her hand again and led her to the control room so he could fly the TARDIS to the best amusement park he knew of. And if it was the best he could think of, it was the best in the universe since he'd been more places than pretty much any other living creature. He whirled around the controls excitedly, setting them for his destination.

"So what kind of amusement park are we going to?" Amy asked. She never quite knew what could happen with the Doctor. She just hoped that wherever he was taking them was relatively safe in some way. "And why did you suddenly decide we should go somewhere nice?" Amy added to her question, slightly suspicious.

"We're going to the First Intergalactic Union for Amusement. Yeah, I know, not the greatest name, but they had to start somewhere, right? The names got better after the first one, but each park could never live up to the first. And as for why I'm taking you somewhere, I figured that we've only really had one real date and that should be fixed immediately," the Doctor explained.

Amy couldn't help a smile from taking to her face. She could hardly believe that the Doctor was taking her on a date, a real date, and was willing to call it one. The TARDIS landed fairly smoothly and the two exited the blue box. Awaiting them was an ornate gate made of wrought iron. It spiraled into the four letters FIUA in beautiful cursive letters. Amy peered through, but she couldn't see anyone in line or even any personnel waiting to sell tickets.

"Doctor? Are we too early or something?" Amy asked.

"No, of course not. We're just on time! Or, actually, just a little late. You see, we're in the 33rd century, and they've just closed down this park. But, that means no lines to wait in," the Doctor answered with a wink.

The Doctor took Amy's hand once more and led her straight through the gate and into the park. It was odd for Amy to see an empty amusement park, plus it was fairly dark without all of the lights on. The Doctor soon fixed the second thing with a flick of his screwdriver, turning on all of the lights. Amy gasped as she took in the amusement park. It wasn't exactly pretty to look at, the decorations and shrubbery were rather plain, but the rides were amazing. Vertical drops on metal coasters and loops and corkscrews caught her eye immediately. Other rides, such as merry-go-rounds and spinning rides, were placed all around as well. It was heaven for anyone who liked amusement parks.

Amy started running toward the nearest rollercoaster and the Doctor followed. They raced straight through the corridors in place to accommodate people waiting in line and made their way to the top of the structure where a car sat on the tracks.

"How is it going to run if the park has been shut down?" Amy asked. The Doctor went over to the control panel for the ride and pressed a few buttons.

"Oh, come on. You think I can't start up a little rollercoaster?" the Doctor scoffed. He laughed and motioned for Amy to get inside the car and he followed, sitting next to her.

"Hey, Doctor, if you're riding in the car, then who's going to man the-?" Amy started to ask, but she was cut off as the car lurched into life, sending the two flying through a series of twists, turns, loops, and corkscrews like Amy had never even imagined at intense speeds. She screamed the whole way through while the Doctor gave a "Whee!" noise every so often. When the car pulled back into the structure, both of them were laughing.

"That… was awesome!" Amy said, breathless. The Doctor grinned like a little kid at first, but then his gaze softened. He still looked happy, extraordinarily happy, but it was a more serious expression as well.

"And this is just the beginning," the Doctor whispered in Amy's ear. Amy turned her head to capture the lips that had just spoken those words in a kiss. Those six words did not just refer to the amusement park, and both of them knew it. The Doctor was referring to the rest of the time that they'd have together, the hopefully many years to come.

When they got off of the rollercoaster hand in hand, they knew that this would become their new norm. This was life- the two of them, hands entwined, traveling the universe, for as long as they could. Neither one could think of anything better to do with their lives.

Amy looked at the Doctor, her Doctor, as they ran throughout the park with barely a thought in the world. She had waited, fourteen years she'd waited, but it was well worth it. If anything, waiting that long had just made what she was waiting for all that more important. You see, she thought, that's the truth about waiting.

The Doctor looked back at Amy, feeling complete for the first time in all of his 900 and some odd years of existence. Well, the only thing that he might want to add to the picture to make it even more complete would be a ring around Amy's finger… but that would have to wait for another day.

**A/N: So, there you go, that's the end! Please let me know your thoughts on this and if the ending was not quite right or anything. I know that not everything was resolved, but I didn't want everything to be perfect, because that would be very unrealistic. I hope you've enjoyed reading!**


End file.
